Silence
by jesmille91
Summary: Annabelle is your normal teenager. If normal means that one goes from town to town, school to school with her father and two older brothers. Oh, and that one other thing. Her life is in silence, but this is her normal, and she wouldn't trade it for anything. Very first fanfiction ever! please be nice :D rated mature so i have breathing room lol. PLEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASE review!
1. Chapter 1

Dean: 20  
Sam: 17  
Annabelle: 15

Annabelle is sitting on an outside lunch table, doing her math homework as she waits for her older brother Sam, facing towards the school, her back to the parking lot, looking up every now and then. Three football players are getting into a car when the one getting into the driver's side looks up at Annabelle. "Hey," he says back to the other two, "Isn't that that new girl?" "Yeah," one of them said slowly as hi squints his eyes to see her. "She has an older brother. Their last name is like some type of gun." "Yeah, Winchester, right?" "How do you know that's her? You've only seen her back." the third boy piped up. The driver looked back at him with a smirk. "Cuz she's the only girl in school wearing a leather jacket, and me and Blake had English with her." Yeah, and I had P.E. with her older brother." Blake retorted, looking back at the third boy. He looks up to the driver, "He's a freaking monster, dude. Like at least 6'2". And I could barely keep up with him on the track." The driver throws his keeps up and catches them, "I ain't scared of no brother." The driver says, wiggling his eyes. Blake looks back at him smiling and the third boy sighs and falls back against the seat. "David, don't you have to go meet up with your tutor so you don't fail and get kicked off the team?" The third boy said. "Stop being a pussy and get out of the car, Rick."  
The three boys start walking up to Annabelle, who's still completely focused on her homework. Rick stands back, a few feet away from the vehicle, as the other two start walk up behind her, whistling at her and making cat calls. Rick looks back as he sees a black car pull up next to David's. A tall man with blonde hair steps out of the car, looking pissed. Rick looks back at his friends with his hands in his pockets, hoping they don't do anything stupid. He sees David leaning against the table with Blake by his side. David sees that the young girl, with strawberry blonde, wavy hair, is not paying him any attention. David waves his hand in front of her face, which makes her pause but then she goes back to her homework. David then takes the book and paper away and drops them on the ground.  
Rick glances back again after hearing footsteps. The angry blonde guy was walking up to him quickly, but once he seen the young boy become scared, he slowed his pace and stands next to him. "Look, you seem like a good kid," he says to Rick without looking at him, "If you weren't you'd be up there with your friends instead of back here, waiting for them to get bored. So I'm going to give you a chance." the older blonde man, with stabbing green eyes, finally looks at the boy. "Leave." he says sternly. Rick starts to stammer. "You better, because if you don't, and I get into it with those two and then you jump in," he breathes in sharply, "It's not going to end well for you." Rick hears the seriousness in the man's voice, and sees it in his body language. He decides he's not going to get his ass kicked because his friends are assholes. Rick puts his hands up in surrender and walks away. "Smart kid." The man says to himself keeping watch on the two that were harassing the young girl.  
Annabelle is staring at the boy closest to her in anger. The older man hears David say in a soft voice, "Come on sugar. Something that looks so sweet shouldn't act so sour." David places his hand on her shoulder which Annabelle smacks it off. David shakes his hand, trying to hide the fact that it actually hurt. "Ooooh, kitten got some claws." Blake says. Now sitting on the other side of Annabelle. The man stiffens but doesn't move yet because he knew the girl very well and she'd give him hell for it right now. Just got to wait until her brother gets out and they can all leave.  
"Hurry the hell up, Sam." Annabelle thinks to herself, looking up at the doors. David stands in her line of view. "Who you waiting for, sugar? You got a man?" Annabelle rolls her eyes and motions her hand for the boys to leave. David and Blake scoff. "Did you just tell us to 'Shoo'" Annabelle laughs to herself and nods her head slowly, as if to say, 'well, yeah'. David squares his shoulders, causing Annabelle to stand up, she can feel Blake doing the same behind her. "You know, at first, I found it kind of cute, but now, this silent treatment of yours is getting real fucking annoying. Annabelle, finally, sees Sam walking out of the building, then she looks back at David and cocks her head and gives him a look that says, 'what you going to do?' "Maybe I'll just give you a reason to be silent." he says as he moves in, grabbing the back of her neck and moving into a kiss.  
Annabelle barely has time to fight back or even push him off before the older blonde man jumps over the table and punches David square in the jaw, causing her to fall along with him. She quickly moves herself back into the large tree to get out of the way. She knew how angry this blonde man, her oldest brother, was. Sam must have started sprinting when he saw the boy try to kiss Annabelle because he was now helping in the fight, punching Blake who was trying to gang up on the oldest Winchester. Dean slams David into the table his sister was sitting on, Blake, the one Sam was fighting, had ran away. Sam was now right next to his older brother, staring down at (in his eyes) sister's attacker. "What the hell is your guys' deal?! Why do you care bout that bitch?!" David nearly screamed. Dean's grip on the young boy's shirt tightens. "Our deal?!" Dean says through his teeth. He points to Annabelle, who then starts to stand up slowly. "That's are baby sister that you were fucking with. And what I just can't understand is why assholes like you won't ever leaver her alone.  
David tries to pull Dean's hand off of his shirt in failure. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just, she's a bitch." Sam grabs David's jaw, "Watch what the fuck you say about Annabelle, bitch." He says low, through his teeth. The young boy starts stammering and then says slowly, "She thinks she's too good to talk to anyone. I mean, I've had two classes with her and I haven't heard one peep from her. Then, when I was talking to her just now, she ignored me. Using her hand to 'shoo' me away." Anger starting rising in the young boy again, "Didn't even have the fucking decency to tell me to leave." Annabelle walks over to Sam and starts pulling on his arm. Sam lets go of David only when he sees Annabelle's eyes, full of worry. Afraid of what her brother would do. "Stupid bitch!" David yells towards her, followed with a smack of the back of Dean's left hand. "I'm the captain of the football team, she should show more fucking respect that I decided to even look at her. She shouldn't ignore me!" Dean leans in, whispering angrily into David's ear. "She's deaf, you asshole. She wasn't ignoring you, she couldn't hear what you were saying. Then, when she could read your lips, after you threw her stuff onto the ground, she decided she didn't want to get to know you." David's face drops, and Dean lets go of him once he fells the same tug on his arm that Sam felt. The three Winchesters start to walk over to the Impala, Sam holding on to his sister, and Dean faces towards David again, "You ever come near my sister again, and you won't live to regret it." Sam opens the back car door for Annabelle and adds, "And they'll never find your body."


	2. Chapter 2

Dean walks into the room, Annabelle following him and Sam right behind her. Dean grabs a beer, the remote and plops onto the bed farthest from the door. "I should have killed that kid." he says as he takes a sip of beer. Sam sits on the edge of the other bed, placing his and Annabelle's book bags beside him, "I know how you feel." Annabelle signs, "_Yeah, and then you two would have been arrested and I would be stuck with dad_." The boys laugh. Dean takes another swig of the beer. "Come on, baby girl. We never would have gotten caught." Sam tugs at Annabelle's shirt so she knows to look at his lips, "Yeah, and the only thing they would have on us is that we fought him" _"That makes me feel SO much better."_ Annabelle signed. She starts to walk over to Dean. _"You're not old enough for that."_ she grabs his beer out of his head and takes a sip as she walks away. "Hey, neither are you!" he yells,even though he knew she wouldn't hear. He sometimes hated her way of thinking. The whole, 'if I can't see you, it didn't happen.' thing was annoying at times. Dean throws a pillow at her to get her attention. Dean signs angrily as he says, "Either give that back to me or throw it away! You are not drinking that!" Annabelle rolls her eyes and gives it to Sam, motioning her hand, telling him to pass it back to Dean. _"Party pooper."_ Dean leans forward to grab his beer, as he puts it to his lips he says toSam, "She thinks she made me forget 'bout that bastard. What she don't know is that it ain't over with him." Sam turns around to face Dean, knowing that Annabelle can't see his lips. "Of course it ain't. No one does something like that to her."

Annabelle quickly walks between the beds and lightly hits Sam upside his head, "Hey!" Sam yelp. Then she kicks Dean's leg hard. "Bitch!" he says lightly, thankful that she wasn't looking at him to read his lips. Annabelle's attention is back on Sam. She points to him and back at Dean. A stranger would be confused as hell, but both of the brothers knew what this action meant. She knew that they were having a conversation, and they only hide their faces when they don't want her to know. Sam just shrugs his shoulders, becoming silent himself. She then turns to Dean, walking up to him then twisting his ear and pulling it back, to see his mouth perfectly. Dean grabs Annabelle's wrist, "Come on, Bells!" he said in slight pain. Annabelle mouths the word, _"Now."_ Dean places his other hand on her forearm and flips her onto the bed next to him, holding her wrists together above her head. Annabelle just sighed, usually she would fight him and thrash around, but right now, she didn't have the energy.  
She would never admit it, but what happened earlier scared her. There was two guys there, one in front of her and one behind her. And they were real strong. She probably could have knocked out one of them, but not both. Then seeing her brothers so angry…it scared her as well. She didn't know what they were going to do to the two guys, so blind with anger. If they had done anything stupid, it would all be her fault. She yanks her arms down and out of Dean's grasp. He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close, moving her hair out of her face, silently telling her that she was safe. Sam walks around the bed and sits next to Annabelle, laying his head on her shoulder, silently telling her he'd always be there. All of her fears disappear and were replaced with warmth and love. They found the movie Waiting on TV and kept it on the channel, watching it in comfortable silence.  
Annabelle didn't mind. Her life has been in silence since she was 6 years old, and her brothers were used to it by now. Half the time her brothers knew what she wanted or what she was asking without her having to sign or even motion anything. She'd just have to give them a look. Since the day she became deaf, she's always felt like a freak. She was always the odd man out and people treated her differently than everyone else. But around her brothers, she was one of them. By now, the silence was the only thing that felt normal to them. And she felt normal around them.


	3. Chapter 3

The youngest Winchester woke up to a nudge. Because she can't be woken up by any noise, her body has become accustom to waking up to any difference in the room. Whether it be a light turning on, or off, one of her brothers moving around on the bed she was sleeping in, or the smallest nudge on her shoulder, just as Dean had done. She lightly presses her hand on his to let him know she is awake. She rubs her eyes then signs,_ "Why'd you wake me?"_ She opens her eyes as she feels Dean get out of bed, then she looks in front of her._ Daddy!_ she thinks to herself, a smile beaming across her face. Her arms open to him, almost like a child that is wanting to be picked up. John Winchester smiles down at his little girl and picks her up in a long hug, purposely dropping her onto the bed when he finally lets go.

Annabelle giggles to herself then pushes on Sam's shoulder to wake him. She feels a vibration and figures he had groaned in protest. She then uses both hands to push him harder, he nearly fell off the bed. Annabelle holds her hand to her mouth to hide her laughing. Sam then looks at her angrily, and sleepily, and says, "What the hell was that?!" she knew he must have yelled because his mouth became extra wide when he talked. Still having her fist in front of her mouth, she points her left, where her father had now sat down on the bed. "Dad!" Sam breathes as he hugs his father tightly. Once Sam and his father released from the hug, Dean, who was now sitting on the side of the other bed, tugs on his father's coat to get his attention. "Does this mean you're done with the job? That we can leave now?" he says slowly. Annabelle cocks her head in confusion. They had just gotten there two days ago. Not saying her father was a good hunter, just that, even if he was done with a case, he usually let them stay at least a month. It looked kind of suspicious if they packed up and left only after two days.  
She frowns when she sees that her dad faces Dean, but only because she couldn't see his lips. Times like this was the only time she felt different from her family. Then the smile returns to her face when she sees that her father also signs what he's saying so she'd know what's going on. "No, I'm not done. I just needed to grab a few things and get some rest. The truck's seats are killing my back." he says that last part to Annabelle, giving her a wink. "Ok, daddy." She says. She actually spoke. The vibrations felt weird in her throat. Ever since she became deaf when she was 6, she rarely ever spoke, avoided it like it was the plague. But, for her father, she didn't mind. Since he was gone a lot, and hardly ever had to use it on the hunts, her father wasn't that good with sign language. So she didn't mind doing one of the things she hated to do to make things easier for him. He had already done so much for her.  
John looks shocked at Annabelle as she stands on the bed, he pulls her back down. "What do you think you're doing?" He says with a smile in his eyes. "Gotta pee." she speaks again. Since she hated physically talking, she would only ever says a few words at a time. "Oh, really?" Her father asks, laughing as he pushes down on her lower stomach. "Daddy!" she whines, laughing quietly. "I'll pee on you!" "Ew!" he laughs, picking her up and putting her on the floor. She laughs to herself as she walks to the bathroom. After she was done and was washing her hand, she looked up at the side of her neck. There was a bruise from there that went to the back of her neck. Guess the dude had more of a grip than I thought, Annabelle thinks to herself.  
She grabs the doorknob, but before she turned it, she felt uneasy. She had just realized that she left Sam and Dean out there with their father. They probably told him what happened. Her breathing starts to quicken as she leans against the door, her eyes squeezed close to stop from crying._ He can't know. He doesn't have to. Nothing happened and I'm ok. Sam and Dean already took care of it. If daddy finds out, he'll kill him._ she thinks. Then she grasps her arms around her stomach, sliding down the door until she's sitting. The idea of her father's blind rage and attacking that kid hurt so bad. Well, that's not exactly true. She didn't care so much for the boy, but more of the fact of the possibility of losing her father. And it being her fault. If she wasn't such a bitch, if she wasn't so secretive about things, this wouldn't have happened. None of it would.  
A moment later, she feels vibration from the door, someone was knocking. Annabelle froze, just looking at the door. She then scoots over a few feet in the small bathroom, by the tub, hugging her knees. Next thing she knew, her father opened the door, eyes filled with anger. She knew it wasn't towards her, but it still scared her. She flinched as John took a step towards her.  
Seeing his daughter so scared made his anger lessen. He slowly went to her side and got on his knees, holding one of her hands. He lifts her chin and moves her head to the side, seeing the bruise she was trying to hide. She sees her father swallow hard, as if to keep the anger from boiling up inside him. He cups her cheek, "Are you ok?" She nods, trying to keep the tears from falling. "Do you want to leave?" she slowly shook her head no before she drops her head. And she really didn't. She knew Sam liked this school, for the most part. They offered a lot of advanced classes for him, as well as things as Mythology and Latin. And the semester was half way over. And the school wasn't so bad, it was just those two guys that made it crummy. But she was fine.  
John gently took her chin again and looked her in the eye. All he could see is the bruise. He was searching for something, anything, he could say to comfort his daughter, but this time, that damn bruise from HIS perfect daughter's neck, was staring at him, and the anger had won. "They will fucking pay." he blurted. Annabelle shook her head no violently, tears spilling from her eyes. "Daddy, NO!" she says as she jumps in his arms, hugging him tightly. "I can't lose you! Not any of you!" she physically says as she looks up and sees her brothers, who were standing in the doorway. Sam had to turn away, hearing the pain that was in his sister's voice. Both him and Dean reluctantly nodded.  
John pulled back and cupped his baby girl's face with both hands, tears filling his eyes as smiles at her, wiping her tears away and kisses her forehead. "It's ok, baby. Don't worry." he chuckles a little then adds, "But if it happens again, none of us boys are responsible for our actions." "Damn straight." John hears Dean say. Annabelle looks up and Dean then back to her father in confusion, wanting to know what he said that was so funny. John laughs to himself, "Nothing important, sweety." He picks her up and walks over to the bed farthest from the door, placing her in the middle, where she was, and tucking her in. she rolls her eyes and John kisses her forehead again. "You're my daughter. I can tuck you in if I want." Dean and Sam take their places on either side of Annabelle, either not hearing or not caring John say that he can get himself a room so they're not squished in one bed. John smiles down at all three of his kids, feeling like, besides everything that's happened in his life, he couldn't feel more blessed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Shout out to sweetkiwi604. thank you for all your help :D ur very beastly :D hope yall like it**

A year has passed since the incident. Afterwards, her brothers became even more protective. Outside of classes in whatever school they were in, Sam was always by Annabelle's side, having as many classes with her as possible. If he had to stay over for whatever reason and Annabelle couldn't be there, Dean waited by her locker to wait with her. And she was a part of a lot more sparring sessions with Dean and her father. They were not going to leave her unprotected in any way.  
There were a few incidents with some guys in a few different schools, which resulted in Sam grabbing whoever it was by the shirt and pushing him away from his baby sister. But, by Annabelle's standards, life was going pretty good for the past year. School was over for the summer and her father let her and Sam drink a little last night after his graduation.  
The three young Winchesters walk into the motel room, Dean in front of Annabelle and Sam right behind her, as it always ends up happening. She runs into Dean's back, not noticing he had stopped because she was smiling at Sam behind her. She moves to the side of her oldest brother, giving him a dirty look before seeing her father, sitting on the edge of the bed hunched over, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. Dean walks slowly towards their father and Annabelle follows, looking back at Sam, who's frozen where he's at.  
"When…" John starts to say, then looks up at Sam, Annabelle's eyes glued to his lips. "When were you going to tell us you were just going to…" he laughs once, looking down at the piece of paper in his hand, rolling it up in a ball, "Pack your things and abandon us?!" he yells as he throws the paper ball at Sam. Annabelle looks down and mouths, _"Shit"_ .  
An angry look from her father shot through her like a bullet, making her flinch. He takes a step closer and Dean instinctively steps between them. "She ain't the one." He says softly, his back to Annabelle. She looks over Dean's shoulders, trying to look at his lips. "She knew!" John yells. Dean takes a step back, making Annabelle move backwards, closer to Sam._ "What did you know? What's this talk about an abandonment?"_ Dean signs. Annabelle sighs and looks at Sam, as if to say, "ask him". Sam's jaw clenches as Dean stares at him. "Stanford." He could barely whispered. The only reason why the youngest Winchester knew Sam told him was because of Dean's body language. Shoulders stiffened with anger, and betrayal, which only Annabelle would recognize.  
The next thing that Dean and Annabelle know, Sam and John are literally at each other's throat, seconds away from throwing punches. Dean tries to pull her away as his baby sister steps in the crossfire, pushing her way in between her father and brother. Shoving at both of them, her way of telling them both to stop. Her and Dean have been the referees between them as long as she can remember, but right now, Dean wasn't having it. He hated seeing them fight, but Dean was just as angry at Sam as his father was. Annabelle was kind of shocked she wasn't telling him to back off as well.  
"I'm not a child anymore, dad! I'm not going to be your soldier that you bark orders at!" "That's not being a soldier, that's being a good son!" "All I want is to go to college, be normal! What's wrong with that?!" Sam and John yelled back and forth. Annabelle was grateful right now that she was deaf, only catching art of what each other was saying when looking back and forth at two of the three people that meant more to her than anyone else could.  
Dean was finally able to pull Annabelle out of harm's way. "We save lives!" John screams, his daughter's eyes once again glued to his lips, though he didn't pay attention. Annabelle clings to her oldest brother as she reads the next words out of their father's mouth. "Your mother would be ashamed at you for leaving us!" She feels Dean flinch at those words, holding his sister close. Sam's eyes are filled with tears. "And she would be ashamed at how you raised her sons!" he spat. Sam quickly walks to the door, Dean holding Annabelle tighter, stopping her from going after him. She looks to her father, desperately wanting him to stop this. To apologizes, to do anything he could to keep this family from falling apart like this, but instead, she reads from his lips, "You walk out that door, don't bother coming back!" Which Sam answers with a slam of the door behind him.  
Annabelle finally frees herself from Dean's hold, pushing her father so hard that he falls on the bed. She sprints out the door and down the street, running in the direction she guessed Sam would have went. She sees a figure running down the road, at least a mile ahead of her. Damn, he can run. She thinks to herself, Those damn long legs.  
She knew that no matter how fast she ran, how wide she made her stride, she wouldn't be able to catch up to him. But she wouldn't give up. She sprinted until her legs hurt, the pain in her legs numbing a while ago. She had no perception of time, all she knew was that they had ran long enough for the road to become surrounded by trees. She had to stop him, to let him know it was ok. That she knew he didn't want to abandon her, he just wanted to do his own thing.  
It was when she started to lose her pace, slowing down then forcing herself to run faster, her knees threatening to buckle and the image of Sam becoming smaller and smaller, that she gave in. She did the one thing she knew would make him stop in his tracks. She stopped and took a deep breath. "SAAAAMMMMMYYYY!" She screamed with all the power, hurt, pain, anguish, and love that was inside of her.  
The image of her brother stopped dead in his tracks. With that, Annabelle started running towards him again, but not as rushed as before, and he started running towards her. As they got closer to each other, she could see the shock on his face, ignoring what he was trying to say to her. Sam had slowed down until he stopped, but Annabelle kept her pace until she reached him, jumping into his arms, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Quickly, he held his little sister as tight as he could, and she didn't mind the restriction. They stayed in that position for a few seconds, feeling the wetness of each other's tears on their shoulder.  
Sam began to ramble while he also signed, wanting to make sure that Annabelle didn't miss a thing that he wanted to say. "I didn't know this was going to happened. I never meant to leave like this. You know that, don't you? You know how important you are to me; both you and Dean are everything to me. I don't want to lose either of you, but I can't be around dad anymore. As much as it hurts to say, but I can't, you saw…" Sam stopped talking and signing as Annabelle puts a finger to his lips, her way of telling him to shut up, a glimmer of a smile showing up against her finger. Annabelle takes a deep breath again, looking her brother dead in the eyes, tears filling up both of theirs. She holds both of his hands. "You and Dean," She begins to say, Sam's jaw all but drops as he hears her voice, tears now falling down his cheeks, "You're everything. Won't lose me. Better not forget bout me." "Never." He answers, hugging her as tight as before. "I love you." she whispers, which makes him hug her a little tighter.  
When she pulls away, wiping the tears from her and Sam's face, there's no long good-bye, no screaming match, no crying there eyes out. Just a silent kiss on the cheek and a promise before they departed.


	5. Chapter 5

It has been a month since Sam left. Dean was inside a gas station, his baby sister slept in the front seat of his baby. He grabbed himself a coffee and her a Code Red Mountain Dew, along with some fresh cookies that the gas station offered. As he walked towards the Impala, he saw that Annabelle is now awake, texting on her phone. He got in the car and handed her the Code Red, placing the cookies between them. Dean clenched his jaw then tapped Annabelle's shoulder, _"Who's that?_" he signed, pointing at her phone. Annabelle tilted her phone so Dean could read the name, not caring if he read the message below it. Annabelle was never one to keep secrets from her brothers. Dean's nose flared as he read the name.

From: Sammy  
I'm good. Got a job a diner, of all places, as a cook lol. Stayin in a motel, lukin 4 an apartment. I'm a big boy, Na-na, dnt worry.

Dean didn't say anything after that. He just started the car and drove, jaw clenched tight.

Dean drove for a while, not saying anything. Yet, every time Annabelle's phone vibrated, his grip of the steering wheel tightened.  
Dean got to the nearest motel, checked in and put their things into the motel room in record time. Annabelle had put her phone on the small table that was by the door and sat down. Dean grabbed his jacket and wallet and started walking to the door. He looks at Annabelle, "Going out." he said, tight-jawed. In response, Annabelle quickly and smoothly got out of the chair and stood between Dean and the door, only a few inches of distance between them. Dean sighs, "I'm not doing this, Bells." Annabelle sighs and folds her arms in front of her, not budging.  
Giving her eldest brother a knowing look, _"We're talking."_ Annabelle signs. _"There's nothing to talk about."_ Dean signed back. _"Liar."_ She took a step towards Dean._ "And neither of us is leaving until this tension is gone."_ she adds. Dean sits on the edge of one of the beds, holding his head up, "I have no clue what you're talking about." He says to his sister. Annabelle could feel the bitterness and slight betrayal that Dean had put in his words. She steps closer to Dean until she was standing right in front of him, her eyes glued to his lips. Calmly waiting until he was ready.  
Dean groaned. "He left us, Bells!" he finally said. "He fucking left, not giving a shit about us, what we thought, how we felt. He didn't even say good-bye! And if you hadn't ran after him, you wouldn't had gotten one either! He abandoned us, me! After every damned thing I did for him! I sacrificed everything so he could have any slice of normal I could give him! Any money I had, any clothes or things I could give him, I gave! Some nights I went to sleep hungry just so he would have something to eat!" At this point, Annabelle was sitting on the balls of her feet, crouching down so she was eye level with her hero. He looks her dead in the eye, hurt and anger covering his face. "I did everything I ever could for him, I would lay down my life for him and…" Dean lowers his head and bites his lip, "And he couldn't…" Dean choke back the tears, "He wouldn't even say good-bye."  
Annabelle went to her knees and wrapped her arms tight around Dean's neck, gripping tighter once she felt her shoulder become wet through her shirt, rubbing his upper back to sooth him.  
They sat like that for a few minutes. Annabelle holding Dean as tight as she possibly can, almost as if she's trying to hold him together, finally letting out the tears that he's been fighting back for so long. When Dean starts to pull back, Annabelle gives him one last squeeze then lets go, kissing him on the cheek. He smiles at her, cupping her cheek, and kissing her on the forehead. He uses his shirt to wipe his tears and stands up. _"What you want for dinner?"_ Dean signs. _"Jimmy John's"_ Annabelle responds. Dean nods at her and grabs for his phone in his pocket. Before he puts it to his ear, she pulls at his arm, kissing him on the cheek again, _"No matter how far away I get from you, I'll never really leave you."_ Dean smiles then laughs lightly. "Same goes for me." he says, then ruffles Annabelle's hair. "Now go take a shower, you smell like fast food and whiskey." He says with a questionable smirk. Annabelle giggles. _"It's from sleeping in the Impala for the past few nights."_ she signs, laughing. _"As if I would drink the cheap-ass whiskey you drink._" She continues, trying to block the light punch from Dean. She grabs her smaller duffle bag that's full of her shampoos, soaps, conditioners and other things of the like.

Annabelle comes out of the bathroom, brushing her hair. She sees Dean sitting on the floor, his back against one of the beds, chomping on a sub. He picks up the Jimmy John's bag, telling her that her sub's in there. Dean looks up at her as she sits next to him, legs crossed in front of her. He glares at her and his chewing slows. Annabelle smirks as she takes a bite of her sub, knowing why she feels Dean's eyes staring at her.  
Dean tugs on the sleeve of the over-sized t-shirt that Annabelle was wearing. She looks at him, trying not to smile. "I wondered where that went." he said to her. Annabelle laughs to herself and puts her sub on her lap, brushing off her hands. _"And I wondered how long it'd take you to figure it out."_ Annabelle signs to him. _"I've been using it for a pj top for the past two months. By the way, these black basketball shorts are yours too."_ She signs, laughing at Dean's reaction. His mouth open in shock, a hint of a smile. Dean pushes her shoulder hard, causing her to fall on the floor completely, both of them laughing hysterically.  
Every time Annabelle tried to push herself up, he'd knock her back down. _"That's what happens when you make me do your laundry."_ Dean sits on his knees and starts tickling her, making her laugh loudly. "And what other things have you stole from me, you little thief?" Annabelle laughs even harder, trying to wiggle away from Dean or to push his hands away, but it was no use. Dean wasn't giving up just yet. The tickling was starting to hurt, so she did the only she could to retaliate. She had turned her head and the next thing Dean knew, his ear was attacked. "Bells!" he says in disgust, yet still laughing. He sits back down, holding his ear. "A freaking wet willy!" Annabelle laughs as she sits up, _"That's what you get."_ Dean grabs his duffle bags that's full of his clothes and lightly hits Annabelle with it.  
He places his duffle bag back down, lifting up his shirt to dry his ear. "You freak!" He says laughing, pushing her again. Annabelle responds with giving his other ear another wet willy then she jumps up. Dean chases after Annabelle, who's now on the bed, pillow in hand. "Oh really, now?" He asks, grabbing a pillow himself. Annabelle nods. "Fine," Dean says, grabbing the pillow case firmly, "But you asked for it."  
Dean twirls the pillow around and Annabelle makes the first strike, a blow to the face. She takes a step back, Dean has frozen. "That's how you wanna play?" Dean smiles and grabs Annabelle's legs and pulls, causing her to fall hard on the bed. Dean proceeds to hit her with the pillow on either side of her, Annabelle hitting him wherever she could, not even sure the hits were connecting.  
After getting pumbled for what seemed like a hundred times by Dean's pillow, Annabelle puts her hands up in surrender, laughing so hard that she can hardly breathe. Her and Dean lay down on the bed, both exhausted. Annabelle hits Dean in the head one more time, rolling over a few times so she's out of arms length from Dean. She lays on her stomach and turns her head so she sees Dean, who's now smirking at her. "If I wasn't so tired, you'd pay for that." he says, breathing heavy. _"Old man."_ Annabelle signs. Dean, lazily, hits her with his pillow. They both laugh again and Annabelle wait's a few minutes until she figures it's safe to move closer to Dean, firm grip on her pillow just in case. She lays her head on his shoulder and wraps her arm around his, snuggling. "Na-Na." Dean whines, which makes Annabelle tighten her arm around Dean. "You have your own bed." Annabelle snuggles closer, pouting, as if to say "But I'm comfy." Dean sighs, giving in. He removes his arm from hers and wraps it around her, pulling her close. He turns off the light and pulls the covers over the two of them, their attention back on the TV.  
Annabelle fiddles with the rip in the collar of Dean's shirt, wanting to get his attention without annoying him too badly. Dean looks down at Annabelle, tapping her shoulder so she knew he got the message, but she won't look up. Anyone else would be confused, thinking that she didn't notice him tapping her shoulder, but Dean knew different. She didn't want him to read her face, didn't want to give anything away. So Dean lowered his hand so Annabelle could see it. _"What?"_ He signed. Annabelle drummed her finger on Dean's chest, hesitating on whether or not she should still ask. _"I'm waiting."_ Dean signed again. He felt his baby sister sigh heavily then lifted her hands a little, making sure Dean could see. _"Dad."_ it was the only thing he got out of her, but he knew what she meant by it.  
The day after Sam had ran off to school, things had changed in their father. His interactions with his two remaining children started to lessen. At times it seemed like he couldn't look Dean or Annabelle in the eye anymore, and for the first week, Annabelle didn't mind it. She was still mad at him. In her eyes, it was his fault. Yes, Sam said some things that he shouldn't, but so did John. And he was the father, he was the adult. Then John left state for a case, leaving Annabelle and Dean behind, saying he'll be back soon. But, after that, their relationship with their father was through phone calls about him being alive or needing help or research with a case. The last time they saw him was two weeks ago and it was only because he knew where they were at the time and he was passing through.  
Dean repositions himself so he could use both of his hands to sign, _"I'm not sure if he'll be back, or if things will be the same as before."_ _"Do you mean with dad, or our family in general?"_ Annabelle countered. _"Sam left us. And so did dad. That's all we know for now."_ He signed to her. _"Are you going to leave? Just drop me off at Uncle Bobby's and go and live your life?"_ Dean gently grabbed her chin after she signed that. "Never." he stated, making sure that he was very clear. "No matter what you do, how much you annoy me or piss me off, I'll never leave you. And I'll be by your side forever." He sounded out 'forever' as if it was a threat, that she could never get rid of him even if she tried. Annabelle smiles wide, from ear to ear, and hugs him tightly. _"I'll never leave you either. No matter what."_ Dean hugs his sister back then relaxes, playing with her hair before they both drift off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Silence ch 6

Annabelle walks up to the back door of the now familiar off-campus apartment. She sneaks inside and slowly places her duffle bags on the floor, walking closer to the man frying bacon. She waits for him to walk to the fridge to get orange juice. Then Annabelle quickly walks and leans on the counter, grabbing some fried bacon off the plate. When the man turns back around, he nearly drops the orange juice. "Jesus Christ, Na-Na!" Sam yells, putting the juice on the counter. Annabelle giggles and jumps up, wrapping her legs around Sam's waist and hugging him tightly, which he returns with a bear hug.

Sam plops his baby sister back on the floor and caresses her cheek, "Missed you too, Anna." "Annabelle." Sam hears Jess say warmly from next to the fridge. Annabelle quickly turns her head to Jess when she sees Sam turn his. Jess smiles kindly to her and Annabelle returns the smile and waves. Annabelle turns to the cabinet that's in front of her and takes out three plates and three glasses, putting them on the table. She sits down when she glances to her side and sees Jess pouring orange juice into the glasses. Annabelle actually looks up at Jess and smiles again. In a way, besides her dad and brothers, she's always felt a little awkward around hearing people. Nine point nine times out of ten, they don't know sign language, so in order to communicate she either has to write things down, which is why she always has a little notepad with her, or actually talk, which she refuses. But, unlike other hearing people Annabelle has met in her life, Jess was ok with that. She was patient and didn't mind how Annabelle was—a little antisocial, bitchy at times, very standoffish with others. Jess had even started taking classes for sign language so Annabelle would feel more comfortable. Annabelle liked Jess. She was a very nice girl, and, most importantly, she was good for Sam.

From the corner of her eye, Annabelle watched both Sam and Jess, something she always did in case a person had wanted to talk to her, or, you know, attack her. She sees Jess giggle and looks up at her, giving her a quizzical look. "Now, don't make fun of me and please correct me if I get this wrong." Jess says to her, Sam now watching the two girls. Jess scoots in her chair and takes a deep breath. _"Good morning, Anna. How was your trip?"_ Jess signs then looks hopefully at Annabelle, who mouths, "Perfect." with a large smile. Jess was honestly the first hearing person Annabelle met that wanted to make her feel more comfortable instead of expecting her to go out of her way to make them feel comfortable. Annabelle liked how hard Jess tried to get close to what little family of Sam's that she knew. Which really was just Annabelle. Jess laughs again, _Is she always this happy?_ Annabelle thinks to herself, then noticed the way she laughed, like she was laughing at herself. "Are you sure you're not just saying that to make me feel better?" she jokes, making Jamie laugh and shaking her head.

Sam walks over to the table with one of the frying pans, scooping eggs on each of the three plates, "Why didn't you tell me what you were trying?" He says, looking over at his girlfriend with his eyes, but keeping his face forward so Annabelle can read his lips. He knew that she absolutely hated being kept out of the loop. "You could have practiced with me." Sam says, now passing out the bacon. Annabelle gets up and grabs the plate that had the mountain of pancakes, placing it in the middle of the table. She then takes out her notepad and writes down something. Annabelle rips out the page and places it between Sam and Jess so they both can read it. It wrote, "I don't know about Jess, but at age 20, I can get my own food." Sam laughed as he read it, finally sitting down at the table. He picks up the note, "Sorry for being nice, Na-Na." he says sarcastically.

After a few minutes of eating in comfortable silence, Sam noticed that Annabelle was texting back and forth with someone the whole time. He taps his finger on the table in a spot in front of Annabelle to get her attention. "Who's that?" He says as he signs. Annabelle turned her phone to Sam so he could see for himself.

From De:

Whatevr, pick u up in a few days.

To De:

I said MAYB a few days. Mite b more. Luv u 2, ass :p

Sam laughs once to himself then returns to eating his food.

Sam turns to face Jess after she clears her throat, Annabelle turning to her as well from seeing Sam's reaction. "So, Annabelle," Jess starts, wanting to break the tension, "What made you decide to come so early?" Jess takes a napkin off the table and wipes her face, "I mean, by now, Sam and I are used to you only telling us the day, not time you'll be her, but you're usually not here until 11 in the morning the earliest." Annabelle chuckles. She moves her chair so she's now squarely in front of Sam, who she was sitting next to, so he could translate for her. "That's because Dean never wants to get off his ass any earlier than that." Sam translates, waiting for her to finish the next sentence, "I was able to get him to drop me off early this time by threatening to hotwire the car and driving it myself." Sam finishes while he laughs. Jess laughs with him.

Sam squints at Annabelle, realizing how she had appeared in his locked up place, "How'd you get in?" He asks accusingly. Annabelle just looks at him and laughs to herself, holding up a key. "How did you get that?" He asks while trying to grab the key. Annabelle writes in her notepad and rips out the page, handing it to Sam. "You STOLE my key last time and made a copy?!" Annabelle holds her hands in front of her face as she laughs hysterically. "Wait," She says, confused about something, also once again wanting to change the subject, "How in the hell does Annabelle know how to hotwire a vehicle?" Annabelle just gives Sam a knowing look, asking permission to tell, Sam responded with a light kick to Annabelle's shin. Annabelle laughs to herself and continues eating. It wasn't brought up again so she guessed that Sam came up with something. She'd have to ask him what it was so she'd know what story to go by.

After a while, Annabelle got bored. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just another of Annabelle's quirks. She never accepted that she was ADHD like the doctors told her all those years ago; she thought that she was just born with a little extra energy than most. Although she never took her Ritalin, her prescription sure came in handy when they needed money.

Annabelle started tapping her fingers, trying to find something to talk about or to do, then her eyes wandered to the extra duffle bag that she brought with her and smiled. _"Excuse me."_ She signed as she left the table, picking up the extra bag before leaving the room. "What is she doing?" Jess asked, almost as if she was mesmerized by her. Sam smiled as he ate, shaking his head, "I have no clue." He responded, sometimes he truly was mesmerized by his baby sister. Sam didn't think there was anything to worry about until he heard hammering and furniture being moved coming from his living room. He hops out of the chair and jogs into the other room, Jess following, purely out of excitement of what Annabelle was doing.

Sam never expected he'd see what he had found, Annabelle standing on the arm and back of the couch, hammering up Halloween decorations. As Annabelle climbs down from the couch, now happy about where she put the green witch, she smiles to her brother from ear to ear. She motions out her arms, wanting him to take in the few decorations she put up. Sam looked around, there were green and purple cobwebs displayed not just in large corners of the ceiling but also on the entertainment center and the couch and floor. There were fake spiders thrown everywhere. And, of course, a Happy Halloween banner from one side of the room diagonal to the other in shiny, cut-out letters. Jess beamed while Sam gave Annabelle one of her most favorite bitch faces. Sam tries his damned-ess not to smile when Annabelle smiles innocently at him.

"This is amazing, Annabelle." Jess says to her, now at Sam's side, "Can't wait to see the finished product." "What the hell, Na-Na?" Sam says slowly as he signs, trying to keep his cool. _"They are just decorations, Sam."_ She signs to him, walking to her duffle bag to get some more out. Sam gently grabs her shoulder and turns her around, "I know, why are you putting them up in my house?" he asks, looking down at her. Annabelle looks up deviously, she couldn't say why, but she loved it when she got Sam so mad he couldn't sign to her. _"Because you don't have any decorations up and Halloween is tomorrow." _Sam closes his eyes and massages his sinuses. Jess takes hold of his forearm, "Hey, calm down." She says soothingly, "They're just decorations. And I think they're cool." Sam sighs. "I knew her coming for Halloween would be a bad idea." Sam looks at his lovingly girlfriend then flops his head to the side to look at his baby sister. Annabelle pouts at Sam then kisses his cheek before she basically skips back into the whole of the room to continue decorating.

"Halloween is her favorite holiday." He explains to Jess. "It was the first holiday we all had together after we first met her." Sam picks up one of the small spiders off the floor and chucks at Annabelle to get her attention. "If she could pull it off, she'd probably still be going trick or treating." He says, really annunciating his words. Annabelle responds to Sam by sticking out her tongue then returns to putting up decorations.

Jess looks up at the man she loves with a quizzical face. Sam places a finger between her furrowed eyebrows. "What's up?" He asks. "I don't mean to pry," she starts, "But, was it easy? Accepting her into your life?" Sam sighed with a smile. "Hell no. I was eight-years-old when my dad told us, Dean and me, that we had a little sister that's only two years younger than me. It hurt us. Dad had a kid with someone only two years after mom died." He laughs at the memory, "Actually, I remember Dean and I promising each other that we wouldn't like her. But…" He motions to his sister who's still putting up decorations, without his permission. "She did basically the same thing she's doing now. Forcing herself on me. If she wants you happy, you're going to be happy. If she wants you to have decorations for your least favorite holiday, you're going to have them and like them." He says as he laughs to himself. "And, if she wants you to be a part of her life…" "You have no choice." Jess finished. She folds her arms and looks over at Annabelle, "Just like if she doesn't." Sam stands slightly behind Jess and gently squeezes her shoulders. "Hey." He says softly in her ear, "She likes you, I promise." "Sure." Jess grumbles. Sam leans in and whispers, "If she didn't like you, she wouldn't acknowledge you." Jess sighs. "Or she's just doing it to be nice since we're serious." Sam clears his throat and shakes his head. "The hell she would. She likes you, scouts honor." Jess turns around and kisses him, "If you say so."

Sam and Jess can't help but to laugh as Annabelle makes noises as if she's gagging, walking closer to the two lovebirds. Sam grabs a handful of fake cobwebs from the duffle bag and throws them at Annabelle. She laughs behind a smile as she gets the stuff off of her. "Shut up! Don't be jealous 'cause you've never been kissed." Sam jokes. Annabelle lifts and eyebrow as if to say, "Are you so sure?" Sam's face goes from joking to serious in two seconds flat. "Who was it? I'll kill him." Annabelle laughs once then makes a motion of zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key.

She zips up the duffle bag then stands up straight in front of Jess. Sam just stands there in awe, not believing what he's seeing. _"Any parties tomorrow? If I ask him he won't tell me." _Annabelle signs slowly so Jess could catch them easily. Jess stammers a little, a little shocked that Annabelle asked her. "Um, yeah…I mean…" Jess starts to sign and Annabelle puts her hands on Jess's. Smiling at her and shaking her head in an understanding way. At first, sign language is difficult and it would be faster for Annabelle to just read Jess's lips. "Well, Sam and I are going to one tomorrow. It's a costume party, but he refuses." She says with a laugh. Sam stands tall (well, taller), "It's at a bar, you're not going." he says with authority, "And you're definitely not going to wear a skimpy costume." Annabelle smiles up at her older brother threw her lashes, "Tsk, aww." She says then squeezes his cheeks like he's a kid. To think Sam had any authority over Annabelle seemed adorable to her. Of course she wasn't going to wear a skimpy costume, she didn't want anyone touching on her, but to think Sam had a choice in the matter was cute.


	7. Chapter 7

Silence ch 7

The next day:

Sam gets woken up to heavy movement of his bed. After years of experience, he guessed it was his ever so annoying baby sister. Sam slightly peeks through his eyes and, lo and behold, Annabelle was lightly jumping up and down on his queen size bed. Sam groans and covers his eyes with his arm. This, of course, made Annabelle jump with more vigor. Sam surprises her by grabbing onto her leg and pulling her down hard, then yanking her closer to him as he tickles her. Annabelle tries her hardest to pull Sam's hands away from her or to crawl away but nothing was working, so she starts slapping and punching his body. After the fifth punch, Sam backs off, laughing, "Stop, stop!" He says, laughing even harder while blocking Annabelle's punches.

Sam looks over at his alarm clock; it was 11 in the morning. _"Where's Jess?" _He asks Annabelle. _"Buying a costume."_ Annabelle answers, laying down, her head resting on Sam's leg. _"You didn't go with?" _He asks, trying to act indifferent. Annabelle rolls her eyes and shakes her head. _"I'm scary enough, I don't need anything to accentuate it." _She signs then flexes her arms. Sam throws one of his pillows at her and blocks it when she throws it back at him. Annabelle signs and picks at a tear in her jeans. Sam tilts his head, _"What's wrong?"_ he asks. Annabelle sighs again, _"Do you really hate the decorations?"_ She signs to him before looking up, pouting. Sam scoffs with a smile. _"They are very cool decorations. Yes, I would prefer them __**not**__ to be in my house, but they are pretty awesome."_ He can't but to smile warmly as he sees his sister beam at his answer. She then gives him a cocky smile, _"Well, I __**am**__ pretty awesome."_ she signs, sticking her tongue out.

Annabelle fully lies down on her back and closes her eyes. She feels Sam poking and shoving her, wanting to either get her attention or not wanting her to sleep. Annabelle groans and signs, keeping her eyes closed, _"Tired. Been up since eight this morning." _Sam slaps Annabelle's outer thigh hard, making her punch him again. Annabelle sits up and shoots him an angry look, "I'll wake you at 2, the latest." He says to her with a wide smile. _"That's all? Dean's right, you're a bitch."_ She signs to him. Sam then picks her up and lays her back down on the bed, having her head at the head of the bed and covers her with a blanket. Annabelle kisses his cheek, as if to tell him she forgave him. Sam chuckles to himself and walks out the room.

He starts to walk to his kitchen then stops in the living room, taking in the decorations again. He couldn't believe that he never noticed them all. Hand drawn pictures of the furies and the Minotaur glued to cardboard cutouts splayed out on the walls along with witches and bats. He shakes his head and smiles, thinking of his sister, _Her and Greek mythology, _he thinks to himself. He continues to walk into the kitchen and makes his breakfast, waiting for Jess.

Not even an hour later Sam went from flirtatiously flirting with his girlfriend, asking for her to "model" her costume to scared shitless as he heard screaming coming from his room. Sam sprints to his room in less than 3 seconds, Jess trying her best to follow him. As she reaches the room, Sam's already cradling Annabelle, begging her to wake up. "No, stop! I'm sorry! MOMMY!" Sam holds Annabelle tightly to him, tapping her cheek, slightly shaking her, "God, please wake up, Na-Na." He whispers, knowing no matter what, it won't help. Jess's heart breaks from watching the scene and decides to leave to give the siblings privacy.

Annabelle continues to talk in her sleep, yet it because more quiet and not the initial screaming, and thrashing around. Sam caresses her face then gently takes hold of her chin, keeping her head up, "I'm begging you, baby girl, wake up." He picks her torso up a little, making the sun shine on her face more.

Annabelle stops moving and talking all together, then slowly opens her eyes, confused at the fear in Sam's face. She became even more confused when he wipes tears off her face. "Thank God, Annabelle." He says softly, fear on his face being washed over. Yet, she didn't know if it was her or her big brother that was shaking. Annabelle sits up on her own at looks up at Sam, who sighs deeply. _"You were screaming and thrashing, yelling in your sleep."_ He signs, not being able to get the words out. Annabelle pulls her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them, as she starts to remember her dream. _"What is it, Na-Na? What did you dream?"_ Annabelle shakes her head then closes her eyes, a tear falling down her face. Sam wipes the tear from beneath her eye and keeps it there, telling her to look at him. She turns her face, keeping her eyes closed.

Sam sighs angrily, becoming frustrated at his little sister. "Fine." He growls to himself and walks to the other room with Jess. Jess hugs him tightly. "What's wrong?" She asks. "Whenever she…" he takes a deep breath, "Whenever she doesn't want to talk, she just ignores me all together, closing her eyes. It pisses me off worse than if she just didn't answer me." Sam gets goose bumps and jumps a little when he feels something poke him in the shoulder blade. He turns quickly to see Annabelle standing there, pouting. It reminded him of when Sam or Dean got angry with her when she was little. _"Sorry."_ She signs to him, and then wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "Love you." She whispers.

A few hours later, Annabelle goes into Sam and Jess's room to show them her costume. When she enters it she could feel something different in the air, but she ignored it, showing off the homemade outfit. It was a long, brown dress that clung to her body. The dress was torn and had frayed rips on the sleeves and bottom of it. Her face was painted up with long, branch-looking lines. Her hair was blown out and wild, and she finished it off with black combat boots and long, black fake nails. "Looks great," Jess starts, amazed, "But…what are you?"Annabelle sighs and looks to Sam, _Honestly, no one values the classics, _she thinks to herself. Sam laughs as he explains, "Her rendition of a fury, from Greek mythology. She finds them scary because they will chase after a person for the rest of their life, mentally torturing them, all the way to the ends of the earth."

Annabelle reaches in her bra, grabbing her notepad and a pen, handing the page to Jess. "What's going on?" it read. Jess laughs to herself, "He's trying to weasel out of going to the party." Annabelle scoffs. Sam nudges his girlfriend. "Tattle tale." He says under his breath. Annabelle grabs his hand with both of hers and pulls him towards the door. Sam looks back at Jess who's laughing hysterically. "We better go. She will pull me all the way to the bar."

Sam becomes more relaxed as he sits down with Jess and a friend theirs, in perfect view of Annabelle who is (surprise, surprise) playing pool against a few frat boys. Sam only had gotten out of his seat once, when Annabelle had beaten one of the guys and he got handsy with her, grabbing her ass. The only reason why he didn't walk over is because Annabelle retaliated with an elbow to the guy's nose, breaking it. She then put the pool cue on the pool table and walked over to Sam, stealing his shot. She looked around the table, reading the others' lips so she can be a part of the conversation. "Is that good?" The guy dressed as a zombie, from her guess, said. "Scary good." Jess answered before she drank the shot. She wraps her arms around Sam and kisses the back of his head, making him smile, she could feel a vibration so she guessed he had said something to the zombie. "And I'm not exactly the Huxtables." He retorted, throwing a peanut back at Sam.

Out of nowhere, Annabelle feels someone grabbing her elbow and turning her around. It was a friend of the frat guy whose nose Annabelle broke. "You hurt my buddy good." She read from his lips, from his expression, he was trying to intimidate her. Annabelle instantly felt Sam standing behind her, putting his arm in front of her, trying to move her behind him. She didn't budge, but nodded at the more built frat boy. "You better go apologize, nicely, before you get in trouble." He says then looks to Sam, "And before things get rough." He finishes. Annabelle laughs and steals another shot off the table then motions for them to shoo. "Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know who I am?" "An Ivy League asshole harassing a deaf girl?" She asks as she raises an eyebrow. Sam laughs at his little sister as Jess and the other boy try their hardest not to laugh. Annabelle steals the beer that Sam had just ordered and starts to drink it. "You're deaf?" The frat boy asks. Annabelle rolled her eyes. This is another reason why she didn't talk in front of hearing people. She didn't lose her hearing until she was 6 and she had speech classes. People are so ignorant.

Annabelle clears her throat "Did I stutter? I have a hearing deficiency, not a speech impediment, fucking idiot." Annabelle stands and squares her shoulders, grabbing the small purse she brought with her. Sam knew there was a knife or gun in it so he stands in front of her. Puffing out his chest and making his shoulders look broader; he looks down at the frat boy. "Leave my baby sister alone. 'Cause if this get rough, this won't end well." He steps a half a step closer, fear slowly creeping on the frat boy's face. "Plus, everyone on campus, and for the rest of your life, will know you harassed, threatened and tried to put your hands on a deaf girl." He says, fist clenched at his sides. The frat boy scoffs and walks away, trying not to look terrified, while muttering, "Fucking freak retards."

It takes everything in Sam not to react, but he was thankful that Annabelle was turned away when that asshole said that. So, when she turned back around and looked up at him beaming, he acted like everything was fine and hugged her tightly. He motioned to the bartender for a round of beer for the table, one arm on his baby sister's back and the other around Jess. "What the hell was that, Sam? Didn't know you could be so scary." The zombie said. Annabelle looks over and looks at Jess. She didn't seem scared, a little shocked, but that's all. "Annabelle's my baby sister. Life's difficult enough for her; no way is a dude going to talk shit to her." Sam explains, he then looks over at Annabelle. "Why the hell do you attract assholes?" He jokingly laughs. Annabelle shrugs and laughs to herself. Sam looks over to the rest of the table. "There was this one time, I had to stay over a little after school to talk to a teacher, I walk out and this jock asshole, with his friend standing behind **her**, grabs the back of the neck and tries to kiss her." Annabelle winces at the memory and steps on Sam's foot. Once the drinks came to the table, Annabelle grabbed her beer and looks around the bar, ignoring her brother and any story he was or wasn't telling.


	8. Chapter 8

Annabelle stirred in her sleep until she finally woke. She sighed to herself. No Sam freaking out and holding her, so, she's guessed, no nightmares this time. She searched the coffee table that was next to the couch to feel for her cell phone. Annabelle had to rub her eyes and blink several times to actually see what time it was. _Fucking 3 a.m._ she thought to herself, _Why the hell am I awake?_ As she sat up, her bladder answered her question with the need to be released.

After she left the bathroom, Sam quickly walked towards her, worried. "Go into my room, stay with Jess." Annabelle instantly does as she was told, knowing something had to be wrong. When she closed the bedroom door, Jess stood up from the bed, letting go of the blanket. "What's going on?" Annabelle walked over to her, holding Jess's hands in hers, she was shaking. Annabelle had Jess sit back down on the bed as she sat with her, shh-ing to calm Jess down. When Jess shot up again, Annabelle instinctively stood up in front of her protectively, facing the door. "There's something wrong." Jess said, Annabelle not knowing because she wasn't facing her. Next thing Annabelle knew, Jess had shoved her out of the way, trying to rush out the door. Annabelle grabbed her elbow to stop her. Jess pulled away, "I have to check on Sam." Then she was gone from the room. _Right, _Annabelle thought as she chased after Jess, _'Cause you're the new ninja Barbie._ _Complete with kung-fu grip and your own accessories._

When Annabelle reached Jess, she was just standing there, almost mesmerized. Annabelle looked up to see what Jess was looking at. _Guess she met another Winchester._ Annabelle thought, snickering. Annabelle was going to instantly give her oldest brother a hug when she saw that look on his face. The face he'd make when he was flirting. Dean was actually flirting with his brother's girlfriend. Annabelle shoved his shoulder hard, making him step back. "Oh, hey Bells." He said to her, as if he didn't even notice her. Annabelle wrapped her arms around Dean's neck and Dean hugged her tightly, lifting her up.

Once Dean put Annabelle down, he walked over to Sam. He had to be talking as he walked because when he turned back around, all Annabelle got was, "Gotta borrow your boyfriend. Talk about some family stuff." Annabelle knew something was wrong. Her heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach. But she didn't show it. She had gotten real good at not showing her worries. Once Annabelle read from Dean's lips that dad hasn't come home; she instantly left the room to get her duffle bag. She ignored her brothers as they went outside, Sam probably trying to convince Dean, and himself, that he wasn't going.

Annabelle packed all her stuff away, leaving the decorations alone along with the duffle bag that still had some in it. As she turns around, she sees Jess just standing there with her hands on her hips. Her anger obvious to anyone. "I'm sorry, but I can't believe Dean. After all this time, no phone call, no letters, hasn't even given you a message to tell Sam, and he expects him to…" Jess's voice fades as she sees Annabelle fiercely walks towards her in three long strides. How dare this girl? She didn't have a clue about her family, about her oldest brother, what they've all been through. She may have Sam's best interest in mind, but she had no right. Annabelle lifts her hand and pointed to Jess. "Don't. Get. Between. My. Family." She said through her teeth. She then smiled politely and patted Jess's shoulder before rushing out the door.

Annabelle nearly bumped into Sam as he quickly walked back upstairs. She doesn't let it faze her as she opens the back passenger door and slides her duffle bag inside. She leaned against the car, keeping the door open. She sees Dean sigh heavily and taps his shoulder. _"Some family reunion, huh?" _She signed. _"You have no clue."_ Dean responded sarcastically, sighing again. He shook his head. _"I don't think he's coming." _Dean admitted. Annabelle scoffs. _"He is."_ She signs, acting matter-of-factly. Sam can be selfish, but he wouldn't abandon his family. Not really…would he?

Annabelle shook her head of any doubt, smiling to herself then nudged Dean when she saw Sam walking back to the Impala. He stopped and stood in front of his siblings. "Just for a few days." Sam looked directly to Dean, "I have to be back on Monday for the interview." Dean shook his head and looked down, walking around the Impala to the driver's side door. "I'm serious, Dean." Annabelle placed her hand on Sam's shoulder and smiled softly, reassuring him. Sam smirks at Annabelle, and got inside the front passenger seat as Annabelle got into the back.

As Dean drives down the highway, Sam looked back at Annabelle. "By the way," he started, "What in the hell did you do to Jess?" he asked accusingly. Annabelle covered her smile and shrugged innocently. "Yeah, that's why she seemed shook up and when I brought you up, she seemed scared. She just started to think that you liked her and now…" Sam turned completely around. "What did you do?" He said slowly. Annabelle sighed. _"I like her. She said something, and I let her know. But I do genuinely like her."_ "You're a pain in my damn ass." He told her, looking angry, as he turns back around. _That was eventful._ Annabelle thinks to herself. _Guess I'm scarier than I thought._ She smiles and let herself drift back into sleep.

Sam sighs and looks down at his hands. "It's getting worse." He stated. "What is?" Dean asked, focused on the dark highway. "The nightmares." Sam cleared his throat. "Yesterday, she started screaming and flailing around. When I asked what it was…" Sam looked out his window, "I haven't seen her so scared since she was a kid." Dean cleared his throat. "Some nights are bad, like what you just said, other nights are better. And some nights, there are no nightmares at all. Just depends." "On what?" Sam asks with a scoff. "Wish I knew." Dean says, more to himself than Sam. Dean started to drive faster. He couldn't tell you why, but he always felt like the more dangerous things were on the road, the more control he had over things. _As if anyone could control __**anything**__ about that girl_, Dean thinks to himself.

Dean walked out of an old, rackety gas station, throwing snickers and a code red in the back seat to Annabelle, who smiled wide, thanking him. "Well, I've never heard Annabelle complain." She reads from Dean's lips as he got into the car. Sam looks back at her and lifts up the cassette tapes, letting her know what they were talking about then looked back to Dean, "Yeah, well," Sam scoffed, "Annabelle's deaf. You could have it on blast and it wouldn't affect her." Annabelle gave Sam's head a shove as she laughed a little. Annabelle looked out the window as they continued to bicker. When she looked towards them, she saw Dean smiling at Sam as Dean put the car in gear, messing with the radio. Sam must had said something because she read from Dean's lips, "What? I'm sorry, I can't hear you." Sam looked back at Annabelle again, who just gave him an apologetic look while laughing.

Annabelle wasn't paying must attention to her brothers or the road. She sat sideways in the back seat, stretching out her legs. She gulped down some of her soda as she paid attention to the bass in the car, her hand on the back speaker, her eyes closed as she let her mind wander. She only looked up when she noticed the car to slow. As they got closer to the bridge in front of them, Dean slowed the car to a stop, turning the radio off. Annabelle shifted in the back seat to get a better look at the scene on the bridge. It was taped off halfway down, _Idiots,_ Annabelle thought, _Why not start it at __**both ends **__of the bridge. The car didn't just magically appear in the middle._ Both Dean and Sam look back at Annabelle. "Stay here." They said in unison. Annabelle gave them an angry and confused look as Dean got two badges out, handing one to Sam. "Anna," Dean said with a sigh, "Cops don't run in threes." He told her matter-of-factly with his trademark smirk. Annabelle glares at him but nodded her head. After the brothers got out of the impala, Annabelle kicked the back of the front seat hard. Dean looked back at her angrily, no furiously; Annabelle shrugged as she folded her arms in front of her. Sam tugged on Dean's elbow, making him walked towards the police on the bridge.

Annabelle sat on the edge of the seat, keeping an eye on her brothers. Nothing had changed. They still seemed like they were bickering. She saw Sam step on Dean's foot, probably because of his big mouth. Then, when they walked back, she saw Dean smack the back of Sam's head as they continue to bicker. She rolled her eyes and sat back in the seat. _They're like a married couple, I swear,_ she thought. When her brothers came back into the car, she glared at Dean, showing her impatience of getting information. Dean sighed and looked back at her, "We have to go talk to this guy's girlfriend. She may know something." _"And her name is?"_ She signed. Dean turned back, resting his elbow on the top of the seat, looking very serious. "You don't need to know because you will be staying in the vehicle." Sam scoffed and turned so he was facing Dean but Annabelle could read his lips as well. "She's not a baby, Dean. She has done this kind of thing before." Dean looked angrily at Sam until Annabelle snapped her fingers repeatedly to get his attention. _"Let me guess," _she signed, _"You're going to do the whole 'worried extended family' bit, right?"_ Dean scoffed as if he couldn't believe she knew that already._ "Which works perfectly until she talks to the dude's family and we're found out." _She continued. "Then how the hell are we going to get her to talk to us, smartass?" Dean asked sarcastically. Annabelle shrugged then winked at Sam as she signed, _"Oh, I don't know. But no one suspects anything bad from the worried, bleeding heart, deaf girl and her loving brothers or friends."_ Annabelle playfully shoved Dean, _"Always the hard way."_ "Shaddup." Dean said before turning back around, starting the car. "Technically," Sam said slowly, "She didn't say anything." He pointed out, getting a laugh from Annabelle and a punch in the arm from Dean.

After driving down the street they saw a young girl putting up flyers, she was about a block away from the movie theater they past. Dean drove a few more blocks before dropping off Annabelle, just for good measure, waiting at least five minutes before getting out the car himself. Annabelle walked down the sidewalk a little faster than she usually walked, not wanting to lose the girl. When she looked up and saw her, now at the movie theater, Annabelle walked a little slower. She picked off one of the flyers, "reading" it as she "accidently" bumped into the young girl she presumed to be Amy. "The hell?" She read from the girl's lips. "I'm so sorry." Annabelle mouthed, making it click in the girl's mind that Annabelle was deaf. She motioned her hands as if she was trying to find an easy way to communicate. Annabelle smiled at her, pulling out her notepad. She wrote something down and showed the girl the paper. It wrote, "I'm so sorry. I'm deaf and was reading this flyer, not paying attention." The young girl sighed, now feeling bad she cussed at her. She gave Annabelle a weak smile. "It's ok. I'm sorry I over-reacted." Annabelle wrote, "It's ok. I'm Annabelle btw." After reading, the young girl gave a small wave. "Amy." She pointed to her lips, "You can read my lips, right? I'm not being an ass." Annabelle smiled and shook her head.

Annabelle turned as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at Sam, who was standing behind her, dean to his side. "Is our little sister bothering you?" He asked jokingly. "Yeah, she has this habit of chatting up random strangers." Dean added, winking at Annabelle. "Oh, no, she's fine." Amy responded. Annabelle "noticed" the flyers in Amy's hands and pointed at them. "Oh, yeah." Amy said, sadness covering her face. A friend of hers walked to her side. "My boyfriend went missing last night." Annabelle hit Sam's arm, getting his attention. She was so good at playing the helpless deaf girl. She signed to Sam who then turned to Amy. "My sister was wondering what happened. If you don't mind talking about it."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I am soooo sorry it took so long. Not only did I have major writer's block, but the charger for my laptop crapped out on me and I didn't put this or Jamie Winchester on a flash drive :/ well, hope y'all like it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long conversation, and really bad coffee, the two girls had told the Winchesters about a local legend. There was this woman who died on the bridge, or something, and now she kills whoever picks her up off the road. Annabelle thought most of that was a crock, but the three of them would figure what was true once they did research. Annabelle had wanted to use her laptop and look for herself, but both Dean and Sam insisted on looking through old newspapers since it was local. She sat in front her brothers on the other side, as they did their own research, enjoying the bickering. Annabelle laughed at Dean as he became more and more frustrated. He shot her an angry look. "Dude, there's nothing here about a woman being killed on that bridge. Sam even looked if you doubt me." Annabelle sighed then walked around, pushing both her brothers out of her way. She deleted the word "murder" and typed in "suicide". She put her hands on her hips and looked proud of herself. Sam looked up at her, he hated being shown up by his baby sister. "I was getting to that." Annabelle laughed and kissed the top of his head. She leaned in, reading the article. This woman, Constance, found her kids had died while in the bathtub killed herself. She went to the bridge and jumped. Annabelle put her hand over her mouth and shook her head. _That poor woman. _She thought.

This didn't add up, though. Ghosts who kill usually go after the same kind of person that killed them, or kill someone who was in the same situation as them. But to kill someone just because they are driving on a bridge you died on, and it isn't an anniversary of their death? Something's fishy about that, and it didn't sit right with Annabelle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three Winchesters drove to the bridge where Constance had jumped. Annabelle looked over the edge, wondering what it had felt like, what was going through her mind. When she looked to her side, she saw her two brothers arguing, bickering once again. She squinted her eyes to make out what they were saying. "You have a responsibility." She saw Dean say. "To dad? And his crusade?" Sam retorted. _Oh God, why can't they just get over their shit._ She thought to herself. Annabelle quickly walked over to them. Being their referee was always more annoying than being Sam and John's. Once she was next to her brothers, she flinched at what Sam had said. "If it wasn't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like." _Damn, always right to the heart, huh, Sam?_ It was understood in the Winchester family to never say the word "Mom" or "Mary". Annabelle pushed both her brothers, trying to get them to stop. "Even if we find the thing that killed her, mom's gone and she's never coming back." Annabelle gasped when Dean shoved Sam against the bridge. She uses all her strength to pull Dean's hands away, which of course didn't do anything. She looked up at her big brother with pleading eyes; Dean refused to look at her. "Don't talk about her like that." She read from his lips. When Dean finally let go and walked off, Annabelle sighed with relief before smacking Sam upside the head.

Dean had stopped in his tracks then looked back at his siblings. They both then noticed what he was looking at. A woman on the bridge, purposefully falling off. Although they knew it was Constance, the three Winchesters ran after her, trying to stop her. When they looked over the edge, there was nothing to be found. Annabelle slowly turned when she noticed lights on the bridge. It was too late for anyone to be going through here. When she finally turned, she saw it was the headlights of the impala. She repeatedly tapped Dean's shoulder, as if to ask him who was in the car. Dean held up his keys. When the car started driving, Dean and Sam grabbed one of Annabelle's hands and the three started running, sprinting. After a while, Dean let go and jumped over the bridge. Sam had tried to do the same, still holding Annabelle's hand, but Annabelle froze. "The car's coming, we have to jump!" Sam yelled. Tears were welling up in Annabelle's eyes. Sam tightened his grip on Annabelle and forced her to jump with him.

After the car stop, Sam grabbed the edge of the bridge even tighter, swinging Annabelle back and forth until she was on the railing. After she pulled Sam onto the railing, Sam helped her hop back onto the bridge then turned, yelling for Dean. Annabelle leaned over the edge, searching for her brother, actually whimpering, hitting the railing. Sam rubbed her back to sooth once he saw Dean crawling out of the water. Sam pointed where Dean was and felt Annabelle relax under his hand. "Is Bells alright?" Dean yelled up, it was too dark so only Sam knew he asked. "She's shaken, but she's good!" Sam yelled back.

It felt like forever for Dean to get back on the bridge. Annabelle ran up to him to hug him, but stopped in her tracks after she hit a wall of stink. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He said grimly. Annabelle tried her best not to laugh. Dean rushed to the Impala, lifting the hood. "Is she ok?" Annabelle read from Sam's lips. "Yeah. Whatever that bitch did to her, she's fine now." Dean turned away from the car. Annabelle didn't know what he said, but from his body language and Sam reaction, he was probably yelling at a ghost. Sam and Dean lean on the hood and Annabelle stood in front of him. "So where does the trail go from here, genius?" She saw Sam say. Annabelle rolled her eyes and walked around the Impala to sit in the back seat. If her brothers wanted to bicker or whatever, she wasn't going to pay attention. She's had enough of it today. Annabelle was lying down in the back seat when her brothers had decided to get into the car. She had to cover her nose when Dean sat down. He just smelled terrible. Dean looked back at her. "Yeah, go ahead. Keep it up. When we get out, I'm gonna give you a bear hug." He winked at her. Annabelle jokingly moved farther into the seat at the threat. As soon as Dean turned on the Impala, Annabelle smiled and drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Annabelle ran as fast as she could through the forest. All the trees started to blend together; she didn't know where she was. Next thing she knew, she was in her backyard, at her mother's house. There were two little boys on her swing set. "Where have you been, Annabelle-y?" One of the boys asked. Annabelle cautiously walked closer to the two children. She realized it was Sam and Dean when they were little, about the same age they were when she first met them. "Annabelle-y?" She repeated. "What, don't like it?" Young Dean asked with a frown. Annabelle moved her head side to side, she couldn't believe this. She could hear her brother. Yes, it was his voice when he was a child, but she could hear him. She then looked down and saw that she was her six-year-old self, wearing the white, lacy dress her mother bought her for her birthday. She remembered this dress. They were looking at each other like Annabelle was crazy and started giggling. Sam and Dean gasped as they quickly turned their heads towards the house. "It's coming, Anna." Dean said fearfully. "Run, you gotta run!" Sam whispered loudly. _

_ Annabelle tried to run, she always listened to her brothers when there was danger, but she couldn't move. Not until she heard it, "AAAAANNNNNNAAAAABEEEEELLLLLLLE!" the shriek was painful; Annabelle had covered her ears and she doubled over. Once it had died down, she ran back into the forest, running as fast as she could, but her six-year-old body couldn't make it. Whatever was chasing her was gaining up on her. She started to run in zig zags and circles, trying to lose it. Annabelle found a tree that was kind of hollowed out in the bottom. She quickly crawled into it, hugging her knees and trying to control her breathing. She looked down at her dress. It was all muddy and had blood stains on it from her scraped knees. She shut her eyes and started to count to calm herself down; trying to forget the trouble she was going to get into for letting her party dress get dirty._

_The light from the outside of the tree started to dim. Annabelle thought that the sun was setting until she realized that the hole was closing. She looked up, hugging her knees tighter, rocking back and forth. When she looked up, she noticed the coats that were hung up above her. She squinted her eyes and noticed a dim light bulb swaying. Annabelle moved closer to the wall, letting out an actually squeak, when something started banging on the door, trying to break it down. Next thing Annabelle knew, she was pulled up by her neck against the wall. Annabelle screamed as loud as she could, kicking at whatever was hurting her. Nothing was in front of her, but she was being choked to death as her head was repeatedly thrown against the wall. She screamed and thrashed as she clawed at her neck, but nothing worked._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean literally pulled Annabelle out of the car, his arms around her waist. She was grabbing and scratching her neck, acting as if she was trying to scream buy nothing came out. He had her leaned against the car, shaking her gently. He then held her hands down at her side. "Wake up, Bells, gotta wake up now." He whispered as he gently tapped her face. He held her up as he reached into the front seat, grabbing Sam's bottled water. He covered the top with his thumb so the water would slowly drip on her face. Annabelle shook her head a few times before waking up. She looked up at him confused pushing away his hand. Dean gently grabs her upper arms, looking extremely concerned, "What's going on with you, Bells?" Annabelle gives him an anguished look that makes Dean hug her around her shoulders.

As Sam came out of the reception area, he rushed towards his siblings. He tugged at Dean's shoulder; the only response he got was Dean looking towards him, not at him, "She's ok." Sam shot him a bitch face, making Dean even more pissed at Sam, "Not now, Sam. She's literally shaking." It sounded more like a plea than a threat. Sam nodded, Annabelle now looking up at him, quickly wiped away her tears. Dean released her as they all started walking towards the motel. "So, apparently dad already had a room here." "Really?" Dean asked, Annabelle's walk faltered a little. Sam nodded, his hands in his back jean pockets, leading them towards their father's room. "He got it for a month."

Sam walked into the room first. Dean turned around to face Annabelle who was looking around, taking in the sites. Next thing they know, Dean is pulled into the room, pulling Annabelle with him as he instinctively grabbed onto her wrist. Annabelle looked around the room. There were papers hung up all around the room. She had stepped over a very thick salt line; someone didn't want it to break too easily. She noticed Sam had bent down, but she didn't pay any attention. Annabelle just walked further into the room. She was drawn to a picture, a woman standing in front of a wooded area, after walking closer to it and seeing it better, she noticed the woman was on the side of the road. The pain the woman was in was clear on her face. After tearing her eyes away from the picture, she looked above it, wondering why her father had it on his wall. There was a piece of paper that said "WOMAN IN WHITE". Annabelle looked over towards her brothers who were looking at the other wall. She snapped her fingers repeatedly as she vigorously tapped on the article about Constance. "What is it?" Dean asked as Sam started walking to his baby sister. Sam scoffed, "Dad figured it out. Constance is a woman in white." "Those sly dogs." Dean said in a way that made Annabelle roll her eyes. She walked over to the bed and plopped down on it, sitting on her elbows. Dean claps his hands, "I'm going to take a shower." He announced. Annabelle rolls her eyes and smiles, silently saying "Thank God." Dean points at her with a serious face, "Keep your thoughts to yourself, Bells. I can still give you a bear hug." He jokes. Annabelle playfully moves further up on the bed.

Sam stepped closer to Dean, the two boys absentmindedly standing at an angle where Annabelle could read their lips. "Dean, about mom, I didn't…" Dean raises up his hand, "Forget it. No chick-flick moments." Annabelle once again rolls her eyes as Dean gives her a wink. "Jerk." "Bitch." With that, Dean entered the shower. And Annabelle was alone with Sam for the first time since her and Dean practically kidnapped him. Sam turned to face Annabelle, giving her a half smile. Annabelle mouthed "Soooooo." Making the smile on Sam's face a little wider. He pulled a chair to where he was sitting, which was not that far from the foot of the bed. _"Na-na" _Sam signed then his hands faltered, not sure if he could continue. Annabelle gave him an annoyed look, she always thought that a person doing that was the same equivalent to a person flipping through a song after only listening to ten seconds of it. _"What was that on the bridge?"_ Annabelle slightly lifted her legs up, making herself look a little smaller. _"I don't like heights." _She responded, not looking at her brother until after she signed to him. _"Since when?" _He retorted. Annabelle sighed deeply. _"Fine, I don't like bridges. Does that answer your question?"_ Sam was taken aback by Annabelle's hostility so, even though a huge part of him fought against it, he decided to drop it. Annabelle has never hid anything that was important from him, so, if it was important, she'd eventually tell him. Annabelle found the remote and turned the television on, showing that she was over the conversation they just had. Sam had leaned back into the chair. He didn't even notice Annabelle grabbing his wrist and pulling him hard enough he was laying down next to her, making him laugh. She giggled a little then cuddled up to her brother.

Annabelle was half asleep when she noticed Dean was out of the shower and dressed; the smell only lingering slightly from the bathroom because of the clothes he was wearing from before. She lifted her head from Sam's shoulder, sitting up slightly. "Just going to the diner down the way, Bells." Dean said as he put on his jacket. He turned around as he walked to the door. "Want anything?" the question was directed to Sam, who shook his head no. _"Cheeseburger, no onions, no mustard, extra pickles with a side of large fries?"_ Dean signed to her. A wide smile answered him. Dean reflected his baby sister's smile as he walked out the door.

After a few seconds, Annabelle had gotten out of the bed and walked to the window, sitting on her knees on the chair that was in her way, peeking out at Dean for half a second. She wondered why he wasn't walking towards the Impala, her curiosity diminished when she glanced down and saw the keys on the table in front of her. Annabelle smirked to herself as she picked up the keys, lightly throwing them up in the air and catching him. _If it weren't for me,_ She thought,_ he'd lose his head if it wasn't attached. _As she turned around to walk to the bathroom, keys still in hand, she Saw Sam sitting up, his phone attached to his ear. Annabelle scoffed. From the way he listened so intently, it must have been Jess. Whether he was physically talking to her or it was a voice mail, she couldn't tell you. Annabelle, in her own way, let it be known that she was annoyed. She was still pissed at Jess for what she said about Dean, about her family. How dare Jess think she knew one thing about Sam's true life or his past? If it weren't for Annabelle talking about them, for all Jess would have known, the rest of Sam's family were dead. She only knew the Sam she met, nothing else.

As Annabelle splashed water on her face, to wash the sleep away, she pushed away the thought that maybe not only did Sam know how Jess felt about Dean, but agreed with it. Sure, Sam had fights and problems with dad, but he couldn't have any harsh feelings towards Dean, right? Hell, Dean raised him, and, for a good chunk of his life, all Sam really knew was Dean. When Annabelle patted her face dry with a rag, she looked into the mirror, as if she was trying to physically push any doubts of her brother out of her mind. The eyes are supposed to be the gateway to one's soul, right?

She sighed heavily as she walked out of the bathroom. But, next thing she knew, Sam gently pushed her back in, fear and worry plastered all over his face. Annabelle looked into his eyes, trying to find an answer. "The cops found Dean." He said over his shoulder as he opened the window the most he could. "They're outside." He said once he was done. Annabelle noticed he was looking for the keys, she didn't even know he noticed she took them. They were on the counter now, Annabelle quickly grabbing them and throwing them at her brother. Sam caught them no problem and hurried his baby sister out the window, Annabelle standing there, her adrenaline pumping as she waited for Sam to make it. They quickly and sneakily ran around the building. Once they reached the corner of the motel building, the Impala only being a few yards away and most of the cops inside their room looking for clues, Sam had turned Annabelle around. "You're faster," He said quickly, his eyes always on the police officers, "You'll get away faster in the Impala than me." Sam forced the keys in Annabelle's hands even though she kept shaking her head, not wanting to leave him. "Once you lose them, meet me at the payphone that's on the corner about two miles down." All Annabelle could do is look at her brother with disbelief. Sam looked at her sternly, "GO, NOW!" Sam had actually said nothing, not wanting the cops to hear him, but mouthed the words dramatically. With that, Annabelle darted for the Impala at the same time sprinted the opposite way.

Once she knew she was in threat of being seen, Annabelle crouched down and quickly walked to the Impala, knowing that once she got to the vehicle, the way she was crouched, no one would see her. Annabelle laid on her stomach for a moment, looking from under the car if there were any shadows or shoes from people that would see her. She then looked in front of her to see if anyone was visible. She was clear. Annabelle slowly, and hoped quietly, opened the driver side door and slid in, putting the key in the ignition and turning on the car with only her foot on the pedal, her full body not even completely in until the car was in reverse. She had known that the cops would hear her and knew that Dean was seen driving it beforehand.

Even though Annabelle was deaf, she could definitely drive. She was always so in tune with her surroundings and the attentions of others that she had no problem with it. But her father and brothers did. They knew better than to think that Annabelle couldn't drive, she was freaking amazing at it. It was because Annabelle liked to go fast. Real fast. If there was a country road or highway where there were very little to know cars, she would drive as fast as the Impala would let her, whether it was day or night. And she was good at it, too; not even her father could drive like her. But it still scared the hell out of her family, so she respected their wishes of never, ever driving unless it was absolutely necessary. And, right now, it was so necessary. It had only taken Annabelle thirty minutes to lose four cop cars, which is an incredibly difficult feat with a car as inconspicuous as a black 1967 Impala. She had to go through at least every back road she could find, about 15 miles of country roads, finding a covered dip in a side of the road to change plates, grabbing an old hoodie of Sam's, hiding her hair in it along with wearing a pair of sunglasses, and a little more than half a tank of gas to make it back to her meeting point with Sam.

Sam stood beside the brick wall of the building beside the payphone, staying secluded in the shadows. He heard the Impala before he saw it thundering down the road. He then walked closer to the curb, smiling in the direction of the car. Annabelle didn't so much slow down as she stopped on a dime, the passenger side door right in front of her brother. Sam leaned down, smirking at her through the opened window. Annabelle giggled as she enthusiastically hit the steering wheel. She was so excited that she was able to drive the car again. As Annabelle got out, knowing that Sam would want to drive now, she pulled the hoodie off of her, leaving the sunglasses on the top of her head. Sam got into the driver's seat about the same time Annabelle got into the passenger's seat. She threw the hoodie in the back seat before putting the sunglasses back on. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Sam glancing over at her as he started to drive. Annabelle dramatically moves her body so it's almost fully turned to face Sam. "Was that my Aeropostle hoodie that I 'lost' when I was a junior in **high school**?" he accused as he looked at the road, knowing Annabelle could read his lips from this angle. Annabelle covered her mouth as she laughed. She waited until the next time Sam looked at her then signed quickly, _"I have been wearing that thing in front of you this __**whole**__ time. You and Dean are clueless about your clothes."_ Sam tries not to laugh as he shakes his head; his eyes now back on the road. Annabelle moved back into her seat, her feet on the dash.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: I apologize for any misspelling or anything. It's unedited because since it took so long for the last chapter I wanted to get this out as soon as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam was insistent on going to visit Constance's husband to check and if he had in fact cheated. Annabelle thought it was absolutely pointless. All signs point to it and dad had already done the research, but whatever. She'd humor his stubborn ass, but she was not going to get out of the car. If Sam wanted to talk to a man that their father had already talked and make him once again relive what it was like to lose his wife, then he can go right ahead. Annabelle didn't want to go so she wasn't going to be a part of it.

Annabelle was slouching, basically laying, in the front seat, one of her legs splayed on the dash. When she saw her brother and the older man walk out of the house, she sat up a little, but not enough where she would automatically seen by the other man. Annabelle couldn't help herself, once she noticed that both men were in an angle where she could see both sets of lips, had squinted her eyes so she could read them. "You ever hear of a woman in white?" Annabelle rolled her eyes and somewhat slouched back down, looking out the window. She truly does love her brothers, both of them, with all her heart, but they had some horrible flaws. One of Sam's was that when he wanted to know the truth about something, he didn't mind not only shoving the knife in but also twisting it a little if needed. It was a flaw of both him and Dean, but Sam was one to do it more often. He was going to be a great lawyer one day. Once she saw how upset the man was, obviously heartbroken just to think his wife had killed his children because of something he had done, Annabelle grabbed an empty, plastic Code Red Mountain Dew bottle, moved so she was sitting on the door of the car, and whipped the bottle at Sam's head. Sam quickly looked back at his sister with an angry and confused look. "Who's that?" the older man asked, "A colleague." Sam told him vaguely, still looking at Annabelle. She angrily pointed at Sam then at the car, telling him that it was now time to leave. "Better listen to her, boy." The older man warned him, Annabelle could tell he was trying his best not to cry. "Leave here and don't you dare come back."

Annabelle watched Sam walk to the Impala and only sat back in the vehicle when she saw him open the door. He put the car in reverse and drove back onto the road. After a few minutes, he looked towards Annabelle. "What the hell was that, Na-Na?!" his jaw clenched. Annabelle rolls her eyes. _"The man was about in tears, the pain obviously still fresh, and you just had to dig that dagger in deeper"_ She signed to him, not paying any attention to him. Annabelle glanced over to Sam and couldn't help but laugh when he literally let out a huff. Sam now rolled his eyes at Annabelle and muttered, "Whatever." Sam leaned back so he could get his phone out of his front pocket, pointing at the wheel which Annabelle grabbed right away. She mostly kept her eyes on the road but looked at Sam time to time to see what he was saying. "Yes, please, please hurry." He said in a frantic voice, "He's waving the gun around, just shooting randomly. Help us!" with that, Sam hung up and grabbed the wheel. Annabelle relaxed back into her seat, looking at Sam questionably. Sam gave her a half smile. "In a small town like this, if there was a man shooting a gun in town, the whole station come, right?" Annabelle proudly clasped Sam's arm. _Good thinking._ Annabelle thought to herself. _Hopefully Dean has something to help break out._

Within a half hour, Sam answered his phone that he had placed beside him. Annabelle's eyes never left Sam's lips. "You're welcome." Sam said with a laugh. He started talking Constance being a woman in white, like their father had figured out, then talking about where their father may be and he and Annabelle were wondering why dad never finished the job. Annabelle glanced forward for a second, noticing that it started to seem more foggy out. She felt a chill slowly crawl up her spine. Sam quickly slammed on the breaks without a warning, Annabelle was never more thankful that she was wearing her seatbelt. She saw that her brother was looking in the rearview mirror, his body almost shaking. Obviously, because of the height difference, Annabelle couldn't see, so she quickly moved the visor so she could try and see what her brother was seeing behind them. Annabelle gasped and her eyes widen when she say Constance. "Take. Me. Home." Annabelle could tell this was one pissed off spirit from how she talked through her teeth. The next thing either Winchester knew, the car started moving again, on its own. Annabelle slowly reached for the iron knife Dean had gave her for her birthday last year that she kept in her back pocket, keeping an eye on the ghost; he'll be pissed about the torn upholster, but he'd have to get over it. Before Sam could react, Annabelle's head was slammed against the window next to her so hard it cracked. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Sam yelling her name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean was driving, more like speeding, down the road in a stolen, light brown truck, trying his hardest to find Sam and Annabelle, he had one guess to where they could be. It was all that was on his mind. He knew that his brother was not the kind to stray, but he also knew that ghost could find ways around that, and that they don't exactly see in shades of grey. Half way to his destination, he noticed something on the side of the road. If he would have blink, he would have missed it. Dean had slowed down, he wasn't sure what it was, but it was moving. Dean slammed on his breaks and all but jump out of the car, his adrenaline on high. It was Annabelle, the headlights showing her trying to crawl out of the ditch, blood dripping down from her forehead. Dean sprinted to his baby sister, moving behind her and grabbing her around the waist, dragging her out of the ditch before he fully picked her up and put her in the car. He strapped her in then sprinted back into the driver's seat. He took Annabelle's hand in his as he drove down the road. Periodically he tried to wake her, she was barely conscious. Annabelle kept moving her head slowly side to side, mumbling something. She squeezed Dean's hand back as he moved in closer to hear what she was saying. "Sam. Sam." She breathed as she waved her hand, motioning him to go forward. Dean pushed the gas pedal to the floor, eyes full of anger.

He was truly torn, though. Annabelle was bleeding; she was in the freezing cold lying in a ditch. She could have a concussion, or in shock, she needed to go to the hospital. Then there was Sam. He was alone with a dangerous spirit. For all Dean knew, Sam could be dead right now. As if she could sense the war going on in his head, Annabelle squeezed Dean's hand harder and looked over at him, her eyes in a faze. "Sam. Sam." She said in a raspy voice. It was as if it was difficult for her to stay conscious long enough to talk.

When Dean pulled into the driveway of the house where he saw the Impala, he parked the truck and turned it off. Dean didn't know what to do. He couldn't leave his baby sister. She would be helpless and she was in no health to be left alone. But he couldn't take her with him. She'd slow him down and it would probably be too much stress on her body right now. Dean looked to his baby sister as he took off his jacket on covered her with it. "Bells, I gotta…" "Get Sammy." She whispered. Dean nodded his head and ran out of the truck. Annabelle flinched awake when she heard Dean slammed the car door behind him.

She tried to stay awake, Annabelle really did. She watched Dean sneakily run over to their car, trying to use that as a distraction to the warm blanket of sleep that was calling for her. She shook her head and laughed at her oldest brother when she saw him shoot his gun. Why the hell would the spirit of a dead woman be scared of a gun? Annabelle blinked heavily a few times. Without meaning to, without wanting to, she fell into sleep. Right before it, she prayed that she would wake up after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabelle woke up, for a second time, in the front seat of the Impala. She looked around, trying to assess where she was. She had a pounding headache and felt a bandage on the right side of her forehead. Annabelle quickly looked to her left when she felt a light tap on her knee. It was Dean, Annabelle smiled slightly at him. "Look who decided to wake up." He said with a smirk, hiding the fear behind it. Annabelle had to take off her jacket, Dean had the heat on full blast and she was sweating. Dean looked up in his rearview mirror, making Annabelle look in the back seat, sighing in relief that it was just Sam. Annabelle looked back at Dean. "You know, if we shag ass we could get there by morning." She read from his lips. Apparently they were in mid conversation before she woke up. Annabelle would be lying if she didn't feel a glimmer of hope that Sam would join them, wherever they were going. Sam sat up more in his seat. "Dean, I can't miss that meeting. My whole future depends on it." "Right." Dean said in a flat voice, disappointment clear on his face. "Don't worry, I'll take you home." He then looked at Annabelle and placed his hand on her knee again. "Just you and me." He mouthed then winked at her. Annabelle couldn't help but giggle.

In a few short minutes, they were in front of Sam place. Dean had barely waited for Sam to get out before he started driving down the road. Annabelle scoffed in surprise. _"Really? That's all?"_ She signed. Dean then looked forward, eyes on the road. Annabelle shook her head then snapped her fingers to get his attention. Her eyes widened when she got no response. She then hit his arm. Still no response. Annabelle closed her eyes and sighed heavily before she slammed her fist on the dashboard, making Dean flinch a little. "Do you want to lose him forever?" She asked angrily, looking up at him. Dean looked back at her after stopping the car, shocked to hear her voice. Annabelle pointed back at Sam's house. "Be the big brother. Go back there and tell him it's ok. That you love him." She ordered him through her teeth. Dean hit the steering wheel in frustration and yelled. He paused for a second before turning the car around. But he wasn't prepared to witness what he saw next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean stood with the crowd, waiting for the fire to be extinguished. He wasn't sure why, though. Maybe he thought he would see some kind of clue or sign of what it was. He couldn't believe it happened again and he hated that Sam had to see it, to watch his girlfriend die like their mother did. He walked back to the Impala, his siblings sitting on the trunk hood. Annabelle was sitting so close to Sam that she was almost on his lap, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck, holding on to him for dear life. Sam was just looking at the ground, one of his hands just holding onto Annabelle's arm. He must have been in shock. Sam's head snapped up as he heard Dean walk closer to them, Annabelle looked over once she felt the movement, slightly letting go of Sam, tears in her eyes. Sam got off the trunk with Annabelle following him. Annabelle grabbed Sam's duffle bag and handed it to him. Dean opened the trunk and Sam threw in his bag.

Annabelle looked over to the once familiar off-campus apartment and tears formed in her eyes. She rubbed Sam's back before she walked to the backseat of the Impala. She slid into her seat and pulled her knees to her chest. God, if she felt like this after only knowing Jess on and off for a little over a year, what is Sam feeling?


	11. Chapter 11

The next several days blurred together for Annabelle. Sam and Dean were constantly in and out of the motel, the apartment being burnt to ashes, and honestly Sam wouldn't have been able to step foot in there if it wasn't. They searched everywhere as Annabelle searched every part of both the Stanford library and the internet. After there was nothing else she could look at, and maybe 3 hours sleep for the past 5 days, Annabelle went back to the motel room. When she entered the room, Annabelle dropped her bag right next to the bed closest to the door and then fell into it.

Dean and Sam stormed into the motel room. Sam walked further into the room, starting to pack the weapons, as Dean saw Annabelle sleeping. He didn't want to, he knew how much she needed to sleep, but he placed his hands on both side of her and bounced the bed. Annabelle woke up with a shock and Dean caught her arm before she could hit him, "It's ok, we just have to leave. We're going to where dad's coordinates are." Annabelle nodded as she yawned. She walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face then grabbed her purple duffle bag that was on the bed she was sleeping on and the book bag that was beside it, and stood by the door, waiting for her brothers to be done packing everything.

Sam and Dean walked out of the room as fast as they entered as Annabelle walked sluggishly behind them, stifling another yawn. As the two older Winchesters put their things in the trunk, Annabelle threw her bag then duffle bag in the backseat and slid into the Impala, sitting behind Dean. When the vehicle purred to life, Annabelle maneuvered her duffle bag to become her pillow and laid down, quickly, finally falling to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Annabelle woke up, she felt groggy and her throat was dry. As she woke up, though, she noticed an unopened bottle of Code Red. She looked up and saw Dean look at her through the rearview mirror, she smiled widely at him, thanking him. Dean nodded his head and smiled back. Annabelle leaned back and looked out her window; the side of the road was covered in trees. She leaned forward again and tapped Sam's shoulder. He looked over towards Annabelle, but not at her. "Not sure, Na-Na." He answered, knowing she was wondering exactly where they were going. "We're going to go to the Park Rangers' cabin to figure it out." With that, Sam plunged his eyes back into their father's journal. With perfect timing as usual, Dean turned onto a dirt road that leads them to said cabin.

Annabelle got out of the vehicle the same time as her older brothers. Before either boy could react, Annabelle started walking towards the forest area that was beside the cabin. Dean walked up behind Annabelle and tapped her shoulder. She turned around. "_Don't go too far."_ He signed to her, _"I'll text you when we're done."_ With that, Dean joined Sam who was still standing by the Impala and Annabelle continued to venture into the forest.

Unlike her father and brothers, Annabelle loved the forest and anything that had to do with it. She grew up in a house that was in front of a wooded area and her mother and step-father had a cabin by the lake they went to during the summer. The Park Ranger's cabin actually reminded her of it. Annabelle's most favorite thing was to climb trees, which is what she was doing now—trying to find a good tree to climb. She wasn't sure when the next time they'd be in a place like this would be.

After walking for a while, the cabin no longer in site, Annabelle found a good solid tree with lots of branches. She took off her jacket, placing it right under the tree and, with a running start, starting climbing the tree, using the force and the grip of her boots to push her way up. She climbed to the first branch and straddled up, looking up to see how far the top was. There was no way she could climb that high by the time her brother's were done. Time wise, she was already pushing her luck; Sam and Dean were always in a rush when things were on their time. She decided to climb a few more branches though, about 15 feet from the first branch. Before she climbed up one more branch, she noticed a marking on the trunk of the tree; she inched closer and closer to it until she could touch the trunk. It looked like a handprint almost, but the markings were too big and too skinny to be fingers. And they were dark and deep into the trunk, like they've been there for decades.

As Annabelle leaned forward to see the markings better, a vibration on her leg shocked her and she had to cling to the branch above her so she didn't fall. Slowly, Annabelle sat down on the branch, looking over in the direction of the cabin. She could see it from there, she also saw Sam and Dean walk out of it. Annabelle knew something had happened because Sam was doing everything but stomping his legs and huffing, and Dean had his annoyed look on his face. She reached in her pocket and grabbed her phone. She texted Dean back saying that she was about 10 yards from the cabin straight on. After putting her phone back into her pocket, Annabelle slowly and quietly, she hoped, climbed down the tree, always keeping her eyes towards where her brothers would come from. Once she saw them close to the tree, she squatted down, her hand on the thick tree branch, hiding. Sam and Dean were looking in all directions and couldn't find her. Annabelle waited a few minutes, until they started to walk further into the forest and she saw Sam actually start to huff. Annabelle whistled to her brothers. Both Sam and Dean's head snapped towards the sound but saw nothing. She whistled again. This time the brothers started to walk towards the sound. When they were a good 8 feet from the tree, Annabelle found a nut of some kind and threw it at them as she whistled.

When the two older Winchesters looked up, Annabelle smiled wickedly at them. Dean smiled widely, chuckling to himself while Sam looked annoyed. "Ok, Bells," Dean started to say, "Enough screwing around, come down from there." Annabelle raised her eyebrows then nodded her head at Sam. Sam's eyes furrowed at her, Annabelle knew he wasn't in the mood, but she was going to do it anyway. "Don't you fucking dare." He said slowly as he shook his head. Annabelle's wicked smile grew and without a warning she jumped off the tree branch, aiming at Sam. She wasn't worried, and if he didn't catch her, it was only a 15 foot drop. But, as expected, Sam opened his arms instantly and caught her, almost falling down from the force. Annabelle clasped her hands around his neck and started giggling. Sam moved her bangs out of her eyes and tried his hardest not to laugh with her. "I hate you." He told her with a smile. Annabelle hopped down and kissed Sam on the cheek. She turned and saw Dean behind her laughing at her. She grabbed his hand and put it around her shoulder as the three of them walked back to the Impala.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Winchesters weren't on the road but 10 minutes before Annabelle could sense the depth of the tension that was in the vehicle. She knew something was wrong because Sam had let her sit in the front seat next to Dean, but neither one would say what was going on. She couldn't take it anymore. Annabelle eyes Dean then smacked his arm. "What?" He asked without looking at her. This time Annabelle smacked the back of his head. "Dammit Bells!" He said as she hit the steering wheel with the heel of his palm. He looked over Annabelle with annoyance. "Can't you just ask for once? Or come up with a not so violent way to get my attention?" He sighed angrily as he looked back at the road. Annabelle giggled to herself then moved closer to Dean, moving his arm so it was draped around her shoulder.

Dean tried his hardest not to smile but lost. He looked down at his baby sister with a smirk, "That's better." Annabelle looked up at Dean as he moved his eyes back to the road. "A woman has been bothering the rangers, saying that her brother has to be missing even though he's not supposed to be home until Monday, so we're going to check it out." He looked behind him to Sam, "And Sammy here thinks it's a waste of time." Annabelle looked over her shoulder, confused. He looked shock at Annabelle's response. "It is, Na-Na. Why look into something that is probably nothing when we're supposed to be looking for dad?!" His anger was clear in his face. Annabelle gave him a sympathetic look before looking up at dad, giving him the same look, but it was more sincere. Annabelle knew where Sam's anger was coming from, and that she and Dean had brought him to look for dad, but what was so wrong with looking into something? Especially if they could end up helping someone. Annabelle just leaned into Dean, resting her head on his shoulder.

When Dean parked at the curb of some house, Annabelle decided to stay in the car; she wanted time away from the tension surrounded her brothers. She climbed over to the back seat and went into her duffle bag to grab her laptop. Sitting sideways, her legs in front of her, and slouched down. She was so short that she could lay flat on her back in the seats of the Impala and almost fit perfectly. Thankful that it was fully charged, Annabelle opened her laptop and turned on her wifi hotspot to check out what, if anything, was going on in the area.

Although she meant to type in something about the town, or the markings she saw on the tree trunk, her fingertips absentmindedly typed "Andrew Warren". She scrolled down the screen and saw an article of a local paper. Apparently he was a big deal. He's a junior in high school and a quarterback. Not only did he bring his team to state but they won after a 10-year losing streak. Annabelle then saw a link to his facebook page and her hands froze on the keyboard. She nibbled at the inside of her bottom lip as she thought about what she should do. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she decided to log into her facebook, that was under a fake name, and went to one of the **very** few friends she had on there, Andrew Warren. When she opened a message to him, Annabelle hesitated again, not sure if she should go through with it. She hit her head against the car door a few times and shook her head as she closed her eyes. _What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if he just completely ignores me all together?_ She thought to herself. Annabelle lifted her head and pulled herself together. _The worse that can happen is that I don't get a response._ She decided, _so stop being a pussy._

The message wrote:

Hey Drew, just read about your big win last school year. I didn't know you even liked football, but I guess that's my fault for not staying in touch so well. I'm sorry about that. Doing anything else besides sports? Got a girlfriend? I miss you, Drew. I hope you're doing great and having fun.

Big Sis

Annabelle hit send before she could change her mind and closed the tab.

Within what seemed like only seconds, Annabelle felt a hard vibration coming off of the car window. She quickly turned around and saw Sam looking down at her with an annoyed smile. She smiled innocently at him. Sam mouthed, "Get in the front." Annabelle sarcastically looked confused and put her hand behind her ear, as if she was trying to amplify Sam's voice. Sam sighed deeply and crossed his arms in front of him, all his muscles flexing in anger. Annabelle saw that he was about to open the door and quickly locked it, then the one on the other side so he had no choice but to get in front. When Dean had gotten into the Impala, he was visibly laughing deeply. He looked back at Annabelle and gave her a wink. She laughed to herself but when Sam sat in the front passenger seat, she moved as far back to the other side as possible, smiling innocently. Sam just sat there, jaw clenched. Annabelle could tell he was highly annoyed.

As Dean started to drive, Annabelle pulled out her phone.

To: Sammy

Smile!

Sam felt his phone vibrate in his coat pocket, he looked at the text and started to respond.

From: Sammy

No.

With that, he through his phone next to him.

To: Sammy

Smile dammit!

From: Sammy

Not in the mood, Annabelle

To: Sammy

Oooooh. Uzn my full name. must b serious :p

Sam shook his head. There was no smile but Annabelle could see the annoyance fade.

From: Sammy

Leave me alone, please.

To: Sammy

Ok, but I have a serious question

Sam's eyebrows furrowed and he looked back at Annabelle who grinned at him. "What?" he mouthed. Annabelle pointed to her phone. Sam rolled his eyes at her as he turned back around while Dean laughed at her game.

From: Sammy

What is it?

To: Sammy

Who put it there?

From: Sammy

Who put what where?

To: Sammy

That stick up your ass. Who put it up there? And do you need help removing it?

Sam sighed angrily and reached into the back seat, attacking Annabelle, pinching her and tickling her. Annabelle's response is to hit Sam repeatedly anywhere she could. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Dean started to yell, starting to hit both of his siblings while trying to keep his eyes on the road. Dean pulled over and yanked Sam back into the front seat. "What happened?" He asked both Sam and Annabelle. Sam just shoved his phone at Dean. As he read the texts, he started to laugh harder than earlier. Dean gave Sam his phone back, "Stop being a bitch because she got you." He said as he gave Sam his phone back. Sam gave him a bitch face and sat up straight as Dean drove back onto the road. "Freaking jerk." He mumbled under his breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabelle printed out her part of the research. She walked over to the bed he was laying on and plopped down on it, handing him the research. "What, is it just pick-on-Sam day for you?" He scoffed. Annabelle smiled at him and nodded, giggling lightly. Sam just smiled. Dean came out of the bathroom and pulled on his jacket. "Wanna check out that bar down the way? Get some food?" he asked both his siblings. "Yeah, sure." Sam said as he gathered up some things. _"Bells?"_ Dean signed, _"You coming?"_ Annabelle shook her head, getting more comfortable in the bed. Sam looked up at her and smiled once, "You shouldn't anyway. You're not 21." _"Not what the ID in my wallet says."_ Annabelle signed with a smirk. Sam stopped mid-step as he was walking to the door, "The minute we get back, I'm cutting that thing in half." He told her with authority. _"IF you can find it."_ Sam walked towards Annabelle but Dean grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out the room, laughing. "Love you, Bells." He said, still laughing.

Annabelle lay down in the bed, flipping through the channels. After a few minutes of watching the Food Network and twirling her thumbs, she opened up her duffle bag that was beside the bed and pulled out her laptop again, instantly checking her fake facebook. The arrow hovered over the message icon, she had a new message and there was only one person it could be. Annabelle took a deep breath and opened the message.

It's good hearing from you Anna. Mom and I were just talking about you the other day. How are you and your dad and brothers doing? We're fine. Mom and my dad are working things out and he might be moving back in soon, he wanted me to say hi. He's sorry Annabelle. So is mom. Come home. You don't belong with them, we're your family. We love you.

Annabelle slammed her laptop shut and shoved it to the ground. She lifted her head and closed her eyes, trying not to cry. She curled into the fetal position and covered herself with the motel comforter, staring at the television for distraction.


	12. Chapter 12

Eight years ago:

John pulled into the motel parking. It was after 11 and he knew Dean was going to be relieved he came back at all; although Sam was going to be pissed he never called to reassure them. John took a deep breath before getting out of the car. As he walked to the door, his Nokia phone started ringing. He sighed angrily when he saw it was Brenda, his daughter's mother. This was the fifth time in two hours. John stopped short of the door when he answered his phone, he didn't want his boys hearing the conversation.

"Brenda!" he said in a low whisper, "I told you, I'll be there, with the boys, by tomorrow afternoon." "Mr. Winchester?" John was taken aback. It was a child on the phone, and he sounded scared. "It's Andrew," the little boy said all hushed. "Annabelle's hurt and in the hospital. I know you're busy with your life but she needs you."

Fear had rushed through John, he started to stutter. "Uh, what, what exactly happened?" He asked, his voice shaking. "Well…" the little boy sounded weary, then John heard a female voice in the background. "Drew," she said harshly, "What are you doing?" the voice got more clear; John figured she was taking the phone away from the boy. "Hello John." The fear that John was feeling instantly turned to anger when he heard the bitterness in her voice. "My daughter is in the hospital and you want to be bitchy with me?" he growled as he paced. Brenda sighed, "Look, I was going to call you…" "Going to call me?!" he didn't believe her, "That's exactly why your son stole your phone." He spat. "John," She said with authority, "I just figured that there would be no reason to worry you if she was alright. Annabelle was out with her friend and got into a car accident. They said that she could probably be released before you even get into town."

John was baffled and furious at the same time. How could she be so calm about all this? Her daughter was in a car accident for God's sake! How is that not a huge deal? "No she won't." he said as he walked into the motel room, motioning his boys to start packing things as soon as he got in there, "Because we're leaving now. I'll be there in a few hours." He growled at her. "Dad." Sam piped up. "What's wrong?" Dean looked up as he was packing his duffle bag, waiting for an answer. "Apparently Annabelle was in a car accident and she's in the hospital." Sam's eyes widened and Dean stopped any action, "What?" Dean exclaimed. "How-how-how could that happen?" the furry in Dean rose so quickly that he started to stutter. John looked at Dean sympathetically, "I don't know, son. We'll figure it out when we get there." He looked over at Sam, who had already started putting his things together, "So let's get going." "Yes sir." Dean and Sam said at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabelle sat in the hospital bed, staring out the window, the stars were almost invisible. She slung her head back over to see the television. Though she couldn't really tell you what was on.

From the corner of her eye, Annabelle could see her mother storm into her room. Her body went rigid with fear as she sat up more, wincing at the pain. "You're brother called your father." She said, standing in front of the door. Brenda closed the door and stood there with her hands on her hips. Her mother refused to learn sign language so Annabelle had to learn real quickly how to read lips after she became deaf. "I told him you were in a car crash." She sympathetically looked at her daughter, though it seemed a little forced. "With all your injuries, it seemed like the best excuse." Annabelle instinctively moved her hand to her side. She had three cracked ribs on her right side, her right arm broken, a busted lip, and basically the right side of her face bruised.

Brenda slowly walked to her daughter. "You will tell him the same thing, right?" she asked slowly, "I mean, what if he knew the truth? Meaning if he actually believed it, that is." Annabelle flinched when her mother placed her hand on hers. "He would freak, possibly go to jail. And then, where would your brothers go?" To anyone else, they would take Brenda's tone of voice as loving, but Annabelle knew that it was a threat. That she would make sure if Annabelle's father found out and did anything that he would be thrown into prison for a long time. Annabelle nodded to her mother as she softly said, "I was in a car accident." Brenda smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead, making Annabelle smile warmly. Her mother cupped Annabelle's good cheek, "Everything will be different this time, baby. And I swear he will be gone by the time you get home. He won't hurt you or Drew again." "Promise?" Annabelle squeaked. Brenda lovingly rubbed her thumb on Annabelle's good cheek. "I promise," Brenda rubbed her nose against Annabelle's nose for an Eskimo kiss, just like when she was little, "My Annabelle-y."

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

John was dead tired. He may have had about 8 hours of sleep in the past 4 days, but his baby girl needed him. He drove 90 all the way to the only hospital in the town his daughter lived in, skidding into the parking lot, parking in the closest spot possible.

Dean slowly woke up as soon as he felt the Impala turn off. "Dad?" he called out, his voice all groggily. John sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Wake your brother and meet me inside." John said as he got out of the vehicle. "I'm going to find your sister and get me some coffee." He called out as he walked into the emergency room. John wasn't sure exactly which part of the hospital Annabelle was in, but he figured that would be a good place to start.

Dean reached over into the back, gently hitting his little brother to wake him. "Sam?" he said softly as first. Sam was cramped in the back seat, using his jacket as a pillow. Dean hit Sam's leg a little harder, "Sammy!" he called out. Sam groaned in annoyance. "What do you want?" he whined. "We're here. Dad already went in to find where Annabelle is." Sam sat straight up and rubbed his eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked as he grabbed his jacket and getting out of the car. Dean laughed to himself once, it had never been so easy to wake Sam before, and followed after him. Dean was still a little sluggish, seeing that he had only gotten a little more sleep than his dad in the past four days.

After 20 minutes, and some intense yelling and intimidation to a few cocky doctors or nurse administrators, John and his boys finally found Annabelle's room. And, with what they saw, John and Dean nearly dropped the coffee they were both holding.

Annabelle was watching television, holding her right side. Tears filled the eyes of all three male Winchesters. They couldn't stand the sight of pain that she had been through. Annabelle had always been a cheerful, good little girl and they couldn't stand to see her like this-a bruised up face, busted lip, and broken arm. John slowly walked into his daughter's room, his sons following behind him. He hesitantly placed his hand on her bed. When Annabelle flinched, John gave her a confused look, which Dean and Sam mirrored.

Although she looked like she was in severe pain, Annabelle beamed at her father and brothers, wrapping her arms tightly around her father and motioning her hand for her brothers to come get a hug, which they happily, but gently, did. When Sam pulled away, him getting the last hug, he pointed to the oxygen tube that was under her nose. Annabelle's smile faltered a little, but one could still see it on the corners of her mouth; she looked at her oldest brother and father as well. "Yeah sweetheart," John started, "Why do you got that?" Annabelle tilted her head and smirked. "I'm fine." _"Come on, Bells." _Dean signed. Annabelle smiled softly at Dean, _"You're getting better."_ Sam smiled along with his brother, _"We've been practicing."_ Annabelle giggled to herself.

Annabelle lifted her hands in hesitation. _"Will you translate for dad?" _She signed to Sam who nodded once. Sam's voice was a little shaky as he spoke. "When I came here," he started, concentrating on Annabelle's sign language, "They thought I just had three cracked ribs," Sam's eyes widened when he Annabelle finished signing, and he all but cling to her hospital bed, "What happened, Na-Na? Is everything alright?" "What?" Both John and Dean asked. Sam looked towards his father and brother, "One of her ribs was actually broken," Sam's voice was monotone, as if any emotion was being drained from him, "It punctured her right lung." Dean walked to the other side of Annabelle's bed as John walked out of the room. Sam and Dean were too worried about their sister to even notice their father left.

John was a man on a mission as he bolted out of his daughter's hospital room. He followed the signs in the hallways to the cafeteria. If Brenda was still in the hospital, she was probably getting something to eat. When he saw her walking down the hallway from the cafeteria, he started walking even faster. John grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the side. "What the hell?" he exclaimed to her. "I should be the one asking that, John" Brenda scoffed, "Who do you think you are? Manhandling me and coming at me all crazy." John crossed his arms in front of him, "Oh, you wish." He said sarcastically. "I thought you said it was nothing serious. That Anna was fine." Brenda laughed nonchalantly and smiled, "She is fine." She said before taking a drink of her coffee. It took all of John's strength not to smack the coffee out of her hand. "Her lung was punctured last night! How is she fine?!" Brenda shook her head, "She's fine now, John. She's strong and pulled through it." With that, Brenda started walking towards Annabelle's hospital room, John on her heels.

"How **dare** you not call me?" He said in hushed anger. "If there's something going on with my daughter, you **call **me. What are you, an idiot?" Brenda laughed herself again, "You're her father only maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and you think you have any right to get a phone call from me?" She told him with venom in her voice. John once again grabbed her elbow, pulling her to a stop. "She **is** my daughter." He said slowly, "You had no right to keep any of this from me." Brenda stared him down, but John could tell that she was scared. Brenda yanked her arm free. "Keep your hands off me." She started to walk again but turned to face John, "And she is **my** daughter. I will do as I please and whatever I feel is necessary."

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present:

It was 4:30 in the morning. Annabelle was preparing her back pack, filling it with water bottles, protein bars, cans of soup, and, of course, a couple bottles of Code Red. Annabelle noticed some movement in her peripheral vision and looked over to her oldest brother's bed; he was slamming his hand on the alarm clock. Annabelle laughed when Dean had to hit it several times because he didn't bother to actually look at the thing when he was trying to turn it off.

Dean sat up slowly and rubs his eyes. He looked over at Annabelle and blinked a few times. _"What you doing?"_ He spelled in sign language on one hand. Annabelle laughed once, _"Previsions."_ She replied, still packing her back pack. Sam walked out of the bathroom with a towel around him, dripping wet from the shower. Annabelle glanced at Sam and started to laugh hysterically, maybe it was from lack of sleep or that she wanted to get an early start on aggravating Sam. He looked over at Annabelle, who was now sitting on the other bed, and gave her the meanest bitch face he had, which made Dean laugh. "Aren't we a little too old for this, Annabelle?" _"Bringing out the full first name already." _She signed to him as she poorly acted afraid. Sam rolled his eyes. Annabelle couldn't help it, she always thought that the way Sam acted when he would forget to bring his clothes in the bathroom with him—quickly wrapping a towel around him without drying off so he could literally run and get his clothes then run back into the bathroom—was hysterical. He has always acted awkward, being that he never had to worry about a sister being around when he was basically naked. And yet, she decided to take pity on him and just throw him his duffle bag. Sam grabbed it and ran back into the bathroom.

Dean got out of bed and threw on some pajama pants. He had gotten hot early in the night and took them off, sleeping in his boxers. As he was putting his sleep pants on, he noticed that Annabelle was already dressed. She was wearing forest green tank top, black pants, and her ugly tan, steel toe boots that always reminding Dean of what construction workers use. Annabelle looked up at Dean as she put her hair back, giving him a look as if she was asking him what he was wanting. _"What do you think you're doing?"_ Annabelle furrowed her eyebrows, _"With you two."_ Dean shook his head and scoffed, _"We don't know what's out there, and you could get hurt." _Annabelle rolled her eyes, _"So could you."_ She countered. Dean took a deep breath and looked to the floor, "You know what I mean." He said softly. Annabelle took a step forward. _"Just say it, Dean."_

Sam stepped out of the bathroom and saw Annabelle in attack mood. By the looks of it, Dean either had or was about to put his foot in his mouth. _"What do you want me to say, Bells?"_ Dean also took a step forward, there was now only a few feet between the two, Sam standing with his back against the bathroom door. _"You have a good eye and great instincts, but…" _Dean hesitated for a second. _"Hunts like this is not for you."_ Annabelle raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. _"Because I'm deaf?"_ She asked, Dean felt like the biggest ass but he didn't want her in any danger. All he could do is nod. Annabelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, Sam was standing next to Dean, she almost laughed because he was approaching her as if she was a wild animal. "He's kinda right, Na-Na." he said with his hands up, "If something comes up behind you, or is following you, and you can't see it…it's too much to worry about." Annabelle laughed to herself and calmly walked back to the bed, zipping up her back pack and tying her shoe laces. _"You guys know nothing about the woods, excluding the few times you had to hunt a monster that like wooded areas." _She signed once she was done. _"I may have a disadvantage because of my lack of hearing, but you two have a disadvantage because of your lack of experience."_ She stood up and walked to her brothers again, _"Plus, if something happens, I know how to track, how to set up a tent and hide my stuff, or myself. So face it,"_ Annabelle placed her shrugged with a smile, _"I'm your only hope, princess Laya."_

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night before, after talking to the only survivor of the last attack, Sam had written down some notes. Stating what they had figured out, the attacks and victims, what he thought it could possibly be. He always did this with every case they had. It was like his own little journal, but he never went so far as to buy one. Annabelle was now reading his notes in the Impala as she waited for her brothers, to get up to speed with the case. There were also a few pages on the possible places their father could be.

Annabelle could tell how angry Sam was about this whole thing, but she couldn't really understand it. Yes, the whole reason why Dean came to get him was to find dad, but did that really matter now? With Jess…gone…did Sam even want a normal life anymore? _Why can't he just enjoy spending time with his family, using the family as a way to cope with Jess's_…Annabelle couldn't even finish that thought. Sure she was never really close with Jessica, but she truly did like her, and Sam loved her. And she loved him. Unconditionally. She was like family in a way, and that was good enough for Annabelle.

As the boys were getting dressed and packing the duffle bag with the possible weapons they would need, Dean would periodically look out the window, checking on his baby sister. "I'm telling you, something's up." Dean said as he threw some knives into the bag. Sam gave him a confused look. "Ever since we got back last night, Bells just hasn't been acting right." Sam scoffed, "Oh, like she hasn't been a little shit to me yet?" Dean gave him a smart-ass smile, "Exactly." Dean threw on his jacket as Sam put the duffle bag strap over his shoulder. "I'm telling you man," Dean continued as they both walked to the door, "Something is off." Sam sighed, "Whatever. If there is something wrong, she'll tell us." Dean paused for a second and looked down at his car keys, "Yeah, maybe." He looked up at Sam, "Hey, you want to check those directions online again just to make sure?" Sam put the duffle bag down and nodded, "Good idea. Don't want to miss Haley and her brother and have them wander without us." He said as he grabbed the closest laptop, which happened to be Annabelle's. "What kind of babysitters would we be?" he mumbled angrily under his breath.

When Sam opened the laptop and put in Annabelle's password, he was a little surprised at what he saw. Annabelle had never left the internet open. She always closed out them and then sign out of the wifi. But this time, Sam saw the last thing Annabelle was on. He didn't know she had a fake facebook. But when he saw who she was messaging, he understood why. "What's up, Sammy?" Dean asked, noticing he was taking too long. Sam had already read the two messages and he quickly went to the site to get directions before Dean could find what he found. Sam quickly wrote down the directions so they were fresh in his mind.

Annabelle sighed in frustration when her brothers got inside the Impala. Both Sam and Dean looked back, "What?" Dean asked. _"You guys take twice as long as I do."_She giggled softly.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry if the beginning is confusing...just kinda wanted to show yall some of the past. trust me, it will come together soon :D


	13. Chapter 13

Annabelle sat sideways in the backseat of the Impala the whole ride. Sam stared out his window angrily, chewing on the inside of his cheek, and Dean gripped his steering wheel. He was still feeling upset and guilty that Annabelle was coming with. He was upset because she wouldn't just see reason, but guilty because Dean knew he really put his foot in his mouth and hurt his baby sister. When he pulled up to the spot Haley said where she, Ben and their guide would be, Sam and Annabelle all but jumped out of the car. Dean sighed to himself and got out of his car.

The three of them walked up to Haley, Annabelle and Sam walking behind Dean. Annabelle was still trying to figure out how Dean became the one that didn't have to carry a bag. _It could be worse, _She thought to herself,_ I could be carrying the weapons like Sam is._ Annabelle internally laughed, figuring that she was probably going to trick Dean into carrying her backpack here soon.

Annabelle strayed from her brothers when she noticed that who she assumed was the guide was whispering something to who she assumed was Ben. From what she could read, he was telling the young boy that he should have stayed home and he better not get in the way. When Annabelle walked up to them, the older man walked away, noticing that he was caught. Annabelle smiled kindly at the younger man and took out her notepad and pen. When she finished writing, she handed Ben the piece of paper. It read, "Don't worry about that. I'm always told the same thing, basically, and it hasn't stopped me." Ben looked at Annabelle confused. She smiled warmly and tapped at her ear, mouthing the word, "Deaf." Ben nodded his head once and continued to smile at Annabelle. She maneuvered her backpack so it was on her shoulder better a put her hand in front of her, which Ben shook somewhat eagerly. "Annabelle." She introduced herself in a soft voice. The fact that Annabelle actually spoke actually shocked her. Ben released Annabelle's hand, "Ben." He said with a half smile. Annabelle smiled shyly and tucked the few rogue bangs that were in her face behind her ear.

Next thing Annabelle knew, she felt a tug on her backpack. When she turned around, she saw Dean standing behind her, smirking. He then looked over at Ben, raising his eyebrows. Dean started to walk towards Ben. "I'm Dean, the big brother. That freakishly tall guy over there is Sam, the slightly younger, big brother." Annabelle rolled her eyes and pulled at Dean's arm, moving him away. Dean waved at Ben, chuckling to himself as Annabelle pulled him away towards where Sam was standing. She didn't appreciate that he thought it was just as funny, slightly pinching his bottom lip as he laughed. Annabelle sighed heavily. "What did I do?" Sam asked, a little annoyed. _"You've been the poster boy of angst since we woke up, but when I get embarrassed, you are Mr. Chuckles."_ She signed quickly. "I embarrassed you?" Dean asked, pointing to himself. "Alright!" He said enthusiastically, high-fiving Sam, who began to laugh even harder. Annabelle shook her head and began to hike, leaving her brothers behind.

After about an hour of hiking everyone had kind of fell into their own group. The guide walked in front with Haley following close behind him, Dean and Sam walking together, they would tell Annabelle later that they were talking about the case but they're probably just bickering, and Annabelle was slowly walking behind them, with Ben by her side. They were a good 10 feet from the group, but neither was too worried. Haley had walked back to Dean for a moment, Sam staying a few feet away, but it didn't last that long. Still, Annabelle paid close attention to make sure everything was ok.

The two youngest of the group were walking in silence, passing notes back and forth like they were a couple of school kids. That was the reason why they were so far away from the group, having to walk slowly, or stop all together, while writing a message. As Annabelle wrote down on her notepad, continuing the conversation they were having, she was having problems keeping her backpack on her shoulders. It wasn't really too heavy for her, but it kept falling off for some reason. She felt eyes on her and looked up, Ben was smiling at her, laughing it seemed, and he took the backpack from Annabelle and threw it over his shoulder. She tried to protest, reaching for the straps, but Ben gently smacked her hand away as they started walking again. Annabelle hoped that she wasn't scarlet red. She decided that there was something she needed to know: "How old are you?" she wrote down, nonchalantly handing him the notepad. Ben smiled and simply said while looking at her, "I'm 19. You?" Annabelle nodded, "20." She chirped. She was still trying to figure out why she was more open to talk to this total stranger than any other hearing person. Or why she kept blushing a little when this young man gave her that smile.

Annabelle's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that Ben started to walk faster. When she looked up she noticed the torn up campsite. She started walking faster as well, catching up with her brothers. Sam had stopped Haley, probably quieting her down. From what Annabelle could tell, Haley had looked to be yelling, more than likely calling for her brother. Annabelle looked over to Ben, he was worried, but wasn't sure what to do or how to take in the scene. Yeah, he was definitely the youngest. Next thing Annabelle knew, everyone started running.

Annabelle picked up her backpack that Ben had dropped, and began to follow the group. Something stopped her, though. She saw some weird movement in the branches a couple yards away. She then began to look around, Haley's and the guide's backpacks were gone. Annabelle felt herself being pulled to the ground by her backpack, actually being dragged by it. She felt like such a girl and she didn't want to do anything to prove her brothers right, but, as she felt long claws drag on her skin, she only knew to do one thing. Annabelle screamed as loud as she could as she pulled on her backpack. She knew she was doing so because her throat hurt so badly.

Whatever it was that was pulling her had let her go. Annabelle jumped up, leaving the backpack behind, and started sprinting back to the campsite. She looked back once and kept looking around her. She didn't know why the thing had let go of her, but she wasn't going to stick around. She wasn't looking in front of her when she had run into something solid. She felt arms coming around her and instinctively blocked them and went to attack. When she finally focused, she saw it was Dean, who was now holding her wrist to stop her punch. "Bells, it's me." Annabelle could see the worry and fear that was in his face. "What happened?" He pulled Annabelle to him and hugged her tightly. Annabelle wrapped her arms tightly around Dean's neck, closing her eyes. She wasn't going to show any weakness or fear by crying or Dean would never bring along again. When she let go, Sam scooped her up in hug, her feet were off the ground.

When he let her down, Annabelle signed that she will explain when they get back to the campsite. As they started walking, she saw Ben and his sister Haley. Annabelle smiled kindly at them but her brothers had stayed on either side of her, either holding her hand or placing their hand on her shoulder. On the way to the campsite, when they were a good enough distance from the rest of the group, Sam filled Annabelle and Dean in on what he believed it was. From what the signs showed, along with the drawings he had seen and the markings on that tree Annabelle saw, it had to be a Wendigo. Dean had started to argue with Sam became distracted by Ben, who kept looking over at Annabelle. He caught the young boy looking again, and Dean's attention was brought right to Annabelle. _"What's up with you and doughy eyes?"_ he signed with a stern look. Annabelle rolled her eyes and walked ahead of her brothers, catching up with the rest at the campsite.

It seemed like only a split second that Sam strode into the sight. "Ok, plans have changed, we're getting you people outta here." Annabelle walked closer to her older brother, giving him a concerned look. _"They can't handle this; we have to get them to safety."_ Dean was now standing behind Sam. Annabelle looked over to him and Dean's response was just a shrug. When Dean looked behind Annabelle, she turned and focused on the guide's lips. "…sure I can handle it." That was all she caught. She looked back to Sam who was now all authoritative and poking out his chest. _Oh great, let the pissing contest commence._ She thought to herself. As the guide and Sam kept going back and forth, Annabelle shook her head as Dean was trying to get them to stop.

Annabelle then saw something. The guide was laughing, and it was towards her brother. He may have said something off the wall, she wasn't sure. But Sam was just trying to get him to safety. Right after she saw him laughing, Annabelle shoved the guide hard, catching him off guard and he almost fell to the ground. As the guide stepped forward, muscles flexed and jaw tight, looking as if he was going to retaliate, Annabelle quickly took her pocket knife out, prepared to defend. In that same second, Dean stepped between the two. Not like he had before when it was the guide and Sam. That was to prevent something. This time, it was to stop something regardless of the cost. Annabelle looked over Dean's shoulder and read from the guide's lips, "Better keep that pretty thing on a leash." The guide tried to keep the same look he had when he was face to face with Annabelle, but she could tell he was scared. She doesn't think Dean said anything to him, but sometimes Dean was more intimidating when he was silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset had come, the fire was made, and Dean was drawing the symbols to keep the Wendigo at bay. Annabelle was sitting next to Haley and Ben, keeping by the fire. Dean had told her to stay put there because of her wounds. The Wendigo had scratched up her upper arms and shoulders which were now cleaned the best they could be and wrapped up using shreds of Sam and Dean's undershirts. Ben had given Annabelle his jacket but they hadn't spoken, or rather written, anything to each other since the incident.

Annabelle saw Dean walked away from the fire towards where Sam was. She pulled the jacket tightly around her and went over to her brothers. Annabelle gently kicked Sam's foot, _"What's wrong, Mr. Mopey?" _Sam sighed and looked at his siblings. "Dad's not here." Annabelle sighed angrily. "I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left a sign or something." Sam said quickly. "Yeah, I don't think dad had ever been here." Dean added. "So why don't we just get these people to safety and get back onto the road?" Annabelle groaned in frustration. _"Who the hell are you?"_ She signed angrily. "What do you mean?" Sam asked. _"What about the girl's brother? He could still be alive! How could you just want to leave him to die?!"_ Annabelle was so angry right now, she was surprised she could even get that much out. "I'm here to find dad! To find the **thing** that killed the only woman I have ever loved!" Sam said in a hushed voice so the others wouldn't hear him "I don't owe a damn thing to these people." Annabelle scoffed and shook her head. _"And that's why Dean is a hunter."_ Even though she was signing, both of her brothers could feel the bitterness in the words, _"And you're just a hunter's son."_ With that, Annabelle walked back over to her spot by the fire.


	14. Chapter 14

Dean was missing. Dean was taken. He was missing. Annabelle kept repeating these sentences over and over again as Sam was trying to find any clues as to where the Wendigo had taken Dean and Ben's sister Haley. Annabelle felt so incredibly helpless and weak, trying not to hyperventilate because of the loss of her big brother. The temporary loss. She had to keep positive. Dean is too damn stubborn to die, to just give up like that. She kept walking, focusing on taking another step. She wasn't sure if it was the shock of her brother being taken by a Wendigo, or that her wounds on her arms were looking worse and she found green puss when she checked her make-shift bandages. She had loss her footing a time or two, she hoped to God that Sam hadn't noticed.

When Annabelle felt a hand on her bicep, she instantly whipped her head around and stopped in her tracks, knowing it couldn't be Sam because he was in front of her. For some reason, Annabelle relaxed within a second after seeing that it was Ben. He gave her a sympathetic look that made her realize how stupid she was. Ben not only knew how she felt, but it was probably worse for him now. Both of his siblings were missing. Now the only people he had to depend on were two complete strangers that came here on false pretences.

The two kept walking, trying to keep up with Sam. Annabelle noticed Ben looking over to his right and he had stopped in his tracks. When she looked in the same place, the both of them walking closer, Annabelle started snapping her fingers to get Sam's attention, she also noticed Ben call for him. It was the candy that Dean had. There seemed to be a trail. Annabelle looked up at her older brother, a hopeful smile on her face, "Better than breadcrumbs."

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

While walking through the mine, even when they fell through the floor, Sam never let go of Annabelle's hand. He had held onto it for dear life. He had already had one sibling missing and he wasn't going to let another slip away from him. It was only after the fall when Sam found out how serious Annabelle's cuts on her arms were. When they had fallen, Annabelle had covered her mouth with her hand, trying her best to keep in a scream. Her jacket was off of her shoulder and the blood and pus were seeping through the "bandages". Sam had let go of her hand, wanting to remove one of the bandages slightly to see the real damage, but Annabelle flinched away in pain. "Na-Na…" he started to say cautiously. _"First, Dean. Then you can freak."_ She signed to him, barely able to lift her arms.

As Annabelle got up to her feet, with some help from Sam, she went to Ben's side. He had seen a human skull and was freaking out. Annabelle put her hand on his back, making him flinch a little, then helped him up, smiling at him as warm as she could, not wanting to show him of her fear. That was something that she learned from her father and brothers real quickly, no matter how scared you are, you never show anyone else that vulnerability.

Sam helped Annabelle up, ignoring the wincing that he believed Annabelle didn't know she was making. When Annabelle, Sam, and Ben looked ahead of them, they saw Haley and Dean. Annabelle had tried to run over to Dean, but fell to the ground. Sam looked back at her, trying to pick her up. She smacked his hands away and pointed at Dean. As Sam was trying to wake Dean up, and Ben was trying to wake Haley, Annabelle scooted herself against a wall. In her haze, the infection must have really gotten worse, she felt something soft behind her. She looked behind to find a backpack. From the dust on it, along with some dark wetness that Annabelle didn't want to think about, it must have been there for a while.

She searched frantically when Sam pulled Dean towards Annabelle. She found some water, which was probably distilled by now, but that was better than nothing. Annabelle pulled Dean's head up to her lap and slowly poured some into his mouth. Dean coughed a little but grabbed the bottle from Annabelle, taking a few gulps before handing it to Haley. As the girl was about to take a drink, she paused, looking around. Annabelle held her breath when she saw what Haley saw, a young man that was obviously her brother, by Haley's reaction. Annabelle didn't breathe again until she saw that the young man that was tied up started moving.

Dean gently tapped Annabelle's arm, he wasn't aiming anywhere but ended up hitting her upper arm, not noticing Annabelle biting her bottom lip to prevent from making noise. "The pack." He mouthed the words, motioning to the backpack behind her. When he started rummaging through it, he found two flare guns, showing them to Sam. "That'll work." Annabelle could barely read from Sam's lips. Not only because of how dark it was, but because her vision was starting to get blurry.

Annabelle waited for Dean to stand up before she tried to. That way, he wouldn't notice her using anything to help herself up. She walked towards her brothers, _"You're going to take them outta here, Bells."_ Dean signed to her, ignoring the evil look she was giving him, _"You're faster than us, pay attention to your surroundings more, and you know the woods better. You're there quick ticket."_ Annabelle just sighed and nodded. She ushered Ben and his siblings out of the area they were in as Sam and Dean took off in opposite directions, shouting and antagonizing the Wendigo, by Annabelle's guess.

Annabelle stayed close to Ben, Haley, and Tommy, walking swiftly but cautiously while crouched down. When the tunnel they were walking down ended, Annabelle put her hand out towards the rest, telling them to stop. She was about to look around the corner when she saw a huge shadow. Slowly, she started walking backwards, the others doing the same. She remembered seeing a small hole in one of the mine walls a few feet deep and had the other three crouch inside it. There wasn't enough room for Annabelle, she went to her knees, hiding her boots, put one arm in front of the others in a protective way, the other hand balancing herself on the wall of the little hole, and hiding her face, this way only her dark clothes were visible. Hopefully the darkness of the mine would help hide her.

She made the other three wait until she no longer felt vibrations from the ground, which took a long time. That Wendigo must have been huge. When she felt it was safe, Annabelle got up, which was not easy, walking in front of Haley, Tommy, and Ben down the tunnel again. But, once she had them turn left, she started walking behind them, knowing that the Wendigo was the other way. She wasn't 100 percent sure they were going the right way, but any direction that was opposite of the Wendigo was safe.

Out of nowhere, Annabelle felt a hand on her shoulder. She tried to deflect and defend like she had yesterday after the attack, but she couldn't. She had just slapped the hand away and tried her hardest not to faint from the room spinning. Luckily, it was just Sam. "We have to hurry, go!" he said to her, practically pushing her to run. The rest of the group followed Sam, as fast as they could. Annabelle ran with all her strength, but it was like she had no energy left. She didn't want to disappoint Sam; he had so much confidence in her that he thought she was right behind him, when she was actually a couple of yards away. Annabelle then fell to the ground; her feet had given up on her. She didn't give up though; she army crawled until she found another little hole in the mine's wall. But this time she knew it wouldn't help any with the feel of strong vibrations, there was something big coming after her.

Annabelle rolled so her back was against the wall; she wanted to see the monster that was going to kill her. The Wendigo was huge. She wouldn't tell her brothers this, but it was the scariest thing she had ever seen. When she saw its hand drawback, the familiar claws staring at her, she knew what was to come next. All she remembers before everything went black was a flash of light followed by a ball of fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Silence~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Annabelle woke up, it took her a second to realize what was going on. She was lying on a cot, there was a really bright light, and she was in a vehicle. _Ambulance!_ She screamed in her head. When she saw the paramedics close the ambulance doors is when she really freaked. Annabelle tried to jump up and get out of the vehicle, but was gently pushed back down by a female paramedic. "Sweety," the woman said kindly, annunciating her words, Sam or Dean must have told her Annabelle was deaf, "You need to calm down. You're going to open your stitches." Annabelle rolled her eyes and gave the woman a bitchy look.

She fought to get out again, not being able to fight the paramedics too well because of the pain throbbing from her shoulders and upper arms. "Dean!" she begged. Instantly both her brothers were in front of her outside the ambulance. She looked at them, tears in her eyes, still struggling. "Hey, let her go!" Dean warned them, "You're hurting her!" Sam continued. "No hospital." Annabelle sobbed. Dean climbed into the ambulance, "I said," he pulled the hands of one of the paramedics away, "Let her go!" "Sir," the female paramedic said to Dean, "You're sister was attacked by a bear, which has many horrible parasites under its claws." Dean sat beside Annabelle, holding her to him in a protective way, Sam threatening to enter the ambulance as well whenever the other paramedic moves anywhere close to his siblings. "If the infection gets worse, it could kill her." The female said in a more calm voice. "Or, she may have to have her arms cut off. She's also highly dehydrated." Annabelle pulled away from Dean, shaking her head. "Please, Dean." She begged, tears falling down her face.

Everything in Dean's body was screaming at him, telling him to yell at these people for upsetting Annabelle and to get her the hell outta there. He knew how much Annabelle had hated hospitals; she hadn't gone to one since she was in that car accident years ago and he wanted to save her from that anguish. But he couldn't do that. He learned a while ago that he couldn't go by his older brother instincts anymore; he had to weigh the odds and do what's right. There was no way that Dean or Sam could handle this, the infection and wounds were too dire. He wiped Annabelle's tears away and kissed her forehead. When he looked at Annabelle, really looked at her, he noticed how pale and weak she looked. She really needed help, help that he couldn't provide. Dean threw Sam the keys to the Impala, "Follow the ambulance to the hospital." Annabelle tried to argue, but she started to feel drained of energy again, her body started to go limp against Dean's. "I'm riding with her, though. And I dare you to try and kick me out." He told both of the paramedics.


End file.
